The Next Picture Show

#503: The Eternal Question, Pt. 1 — After Life (1998) Dec 09, 2025

The new fantasy romcom Eternity turns on a scenario familiar from any number of films that imagine life after death as a bureaucratic process, but its focus on characters forced to make big, symbolic choices for big, symbolic reasons is particularly reminiscent of After Life, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s 1998 movie in which the recently departed are given one week to select a memory to take with them into the great beyond. While the functional logistics of After Life’s post-life waystation are ultimately secondary to its heady ideas about memory and filmmaking, that doesn’t stop us from talking through the ways this specific setting informs those ideas, and the various questions that arise from it. Then in Feedback, we tackle a listener’s consternation with some of the choices Train Dreams makes in adapting its source material.

Please share your thoughts about After Life, Eternity, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#502: Human/Nature, Pt. 2 — Train Dreams Dec 02, 2025

Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams uses gorgeous imagery of the natural world, combined with an omniscient narrator quoting from the Denis Johnson novella the film adapts, to speak for a taciturn protagonist who struggles to understand, much less articulate, his place in the world. That approach has earned it the Terrence Malick comparisons that informed this pairing, but Train Dreams uses its own distinct lens to contemplate the ineffable and ephemeral nature of human existence. So after talking through our responses to the film’s big-picture ideas and small, telling details, we place Train Dreams alongside Days of Heaven to discuss the two films’ contrasting approaches to their overlapping elements, from persistent voiceover and big beautiful vistas, to man’s presumed dominion over nature and the biblical infernos that suggest otherwise. Then for Your Next Picture Show, Keith offers a Days of Heaven-inspired recommendation for very different film featuring a similarly memorable performance from Linda Manz, 1980’s Out of the Blue

Please share your thoughts about Days of Heaven, Train Dreams, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#501: Human/Nature, Pt. 1 — Days of Heaven Nov 25, 2025

Clint Bentley’s new Train Dreams uses the vast canvas of the natural world to frame a relatively tiny story of a single human life, a juxtaposition of story and visuals that’s reminiscent of the work of Terrence Malick, in particular 1978’s Days of Heaven. Set, like Train Dreams, in the midst of America’s Industrial Revolution, Days of Heaven takes an elliptical approach to a fairly straightforward narrative that is pure Malick, leaving us with much to discuss in terms of whose story this is, and what the film’s sparse dialogue and unusual narration leaves unsaid. Then in Feedback, we share some quick reactions to a handful on new releases we won’t be covering on the show, and address a listener suggestion for an alternate One Battle After Another pairing.

Please share your thoughts about Days of Heaven, Train Dreams, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#500: What's In a Name — The Last Picture Show Nov 18, 2025

Don’t be alarmed by the title of this week’s movie selection, this is not our final episode — in fact, it’s our 500th, a milestone none of us expected to hit when we started this podcast a decade ago. So in honor of all our past pairings, we’re devoting this one-off episode to a film we’ve never managed to find an excuse to cover on this show, despite naming ourselves after it: THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. You may think it counterintuitive, even perverse, to devote our anniversary celebration to a somber film about a dying town whose only movie theater shuts down — even one as great as Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 coming-of-age drama — but as our discussion reveals, there are deeper connections between the film and this podcast than just a name. After that, we lighten the mood considerably with a very special game devoted to this podcast’s history and our collective inability to remember it, especially when points are on the line.

Please share your thoughts about THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, The Next Picture Show, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:07:48

The Last Picture Show Keynote: 00:07:48-00:13:04

The Last Picture Show Discussion: 00:13:04 - 00:44:02

The Next Picture Quiz Show: 00:44:02-01:22:07

Next episode announcement and goodbyes: 01:22:07-end

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#499: Impaired Visions, Pt. 2 — Radu Jude's Dracula Nov 11, 2025

From its nearly three-hour runtime to its deployment of some of the most deranged CGI you’ve ever seen committed to screen, Radu Jude’s DRACULA often feels like an extended act of trolling, but is it art? The answer to that question is inextricable from the film’s presentation of AI-derived art as grotesque, inhuman, and unsatisfying, and it makes DRACULA arguably more entertaining to discuss than it is to watch. So after attempting to pull some meaning out of what the critic in 8 1/2 might describe as DRACULA’s “series of gratuitous episodes,” we move into Connections for a study in contrasts between Fellini’s portrait of an artist struggling to make a personal work, and Jude’s evisceration of a charlatan trying to outsource artistry to a machine. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we discuss another film we considered as a DRACULA pairing that may not be quite as celebrated as 8 1/2, but we nonetheless recommend as another depiction of a filmmaker in creative crisis: Christopher Guest’s debut feature, THE BIG PICTURE.

Please share your thoughts about 8 1/2, DRACULA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next episode: A celebration of Peter Bogdanovich’s THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, and 500 episodes of a niche film podcast named after it.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:57

Dracula discussion: 00:01:57 - 00:27:20

Dracula/8 1/2 Connections: 00:27:20 - 00: 48:11

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:48:11-end

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#498: Impaired Visions, Pt. 1 — 8 1/2 Nov 04, 2025

Radu Jude’s DRACULA is, technically speaking, yet another movie about one of the most depicted antagonists in all of cinema, but in actuality it’s about a different beast that has fascinated filmmakers for nearly as long: filmmaking. Within the grand tradition of “movies about moviemaking,” DRACULA’s surreal humor, combined with its focus on a struggling filmmaker fantasizing about the film he might make, gave us an excuse to revisit an all-time classic of the form, Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2. So this week we search for meaning within 8 1/2’s reveries of a blocked creative mind, interrogate the “semi” part of Fellini’s semi-autobiographical approach, and touch on some of the other films that exist in the shadow of this one. Then in Feedback, our recent pairing of RUNNING ON EMPTY and ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER inspires a supplementary-listening suggestion for the former, and a head canon explanation for one of our questions about the latter.
Please share your thoughts about 8 1/2, DRACULA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.
Intro: 00:00:00-00:05:12
8 1/2 Keynote: 00:05:12-00:11:39
8 1/2 Discussion: 00:11:39-48:26
Feedback/outro: 00:48:26-end

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#497: First Strikes, Pt. 2 — A House of Dynamite Oct 28, 2025

A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE is built on an undeniably hooky premise — a nuclear missile originating from an unknown source is heading right for us — but is that premise enough to support a successful movie? We’re joined once again by critic and author Jason Bailey to unpack that question, particularly as it applies to the film’s triptych structure and nervy ending gambit. That ending comes back into play when we reintroduce 1964’s FAIL SAFE for Connections, to see how Sidney Lumet’s Cold War thriller compares to Kathryn Bigelow’s modern-day nuclear scenario in their respective depictions of human connection — personal, professional, and adversarial —amid humanity-threatening catastrophe. Then we keep it in the nuclear family for Your Next Picture Show, with a recommendation for the 1983 TV movie THE DAY AFTER, as well as some of its pop-cultural fallout.

Please share your thoughts about FAIL SAFE, A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Radu Jude’s DRACULA and Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:33

A House of Dynamite discussion: 00:02:33 - 00:24:41

A House of Dynamite/Fail Safe Connections: 00:24:41-47:56

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:47:56-end

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#496: First Strikes, Pt. 1 — Fail Safe Oct 21, 2025

Kathryn Bigelow’s new A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE games out a scenario that filmmakers have been grappling with since the mid-20th century, in particular the year 1964, which saw the release of two very different classics of the nuclear-catastrophe genre: DR. STRANGELOVE, followed a few months later by the other half of this week’s pairing, FAIL SAFE. If the bleak realism of Sidney Lumet’s nuclear thriller made it a tougher sell to audiences back then, though, it also makes FAIL SAFE feel like a more fitting companion to Bigelow’s film than its satirical predecessor. We’re joined this week by critic and author Jason Bailey to discuss why FAIL SAFE still feels so immediately chilling decades removed from its Cold War context, and how Lumet makes a story that plays out mainly in a series of small rooms feel both grand in scope and human in focus. Then, in honor of our second Lumet feature in a row on this show, we turn Feedback over to a discussion of some of the prolific filmmaker’s lesser-known works.

Please share your thoughts about FAIL SAFE, A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE, or anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:56

Fail Safe Keynote: 00:03:56-00:08:47

Fail Safe Discussion: 00:08:47-00:44:03

Feedback/outro: 00:44:03-end

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#495: Revolutionary Roads, Pt. 2 — One Battle After Another Oct 14, 2025

Paul Thomas Anderson’s ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is a very different film in form and function than the other half of this pairing, RUNNING ON EMPTY, but it’s built on the same foundational questions as Sidney Lumet’s 1988 family drama: what does it mean to lead a revolutionary life, and how does one generation’s fight get handed off to the next? After talking through how ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER engages with those questions, as well as its more action-movie-oriented thrills (and hills), we bring in RUNNING ON EMPTY to compare how the two films depict coming of age while on the run from the feds, and parents attempting to safeguard their children from an unknown future. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we discuss some of the other films Anderson chose, alongside RUNNING ON EMPTY, for a recent TCM guest-programming selection inspired by ONE BATTLE.

Please share your thoughts about RUNNING ON EMPTY, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Kathryn Bigelow’s A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE and Sidney Lumet’s FAIL-SAFE

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:40

One Battle After Another discussion: 00:01:40 - 00:32:37

One Battle After Another/Running on Empty Connections: 00:32:37-00:59:38

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:59:38-end

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#494: Revolutionary Roads, Pt. 1 — Running on Empty (1988) Oct 07, 2025

Paul Thomas Anderson himself cited 1988’s RUNNING ON EMPTY as a direct influence on the new ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, and it’s not difficult to see the rhymes between these two films about former revolutionaries trying to protect their kids from the consequences of their parents’ past. We’ll get into those rhymes more next week, but first we devote some time to Sidney Lumet’s 1988 film, which is less cat-and-mouse chase than coming-of-age family drama, anchored by a remarkable River Phoenix as the teenage son of former anti-war protesters on the run from the law. Unlike with PTA’s film, there are no real bad guys in RUNNING ON EMPTY, only problems to negotiate within a rich family dynamic that is both delightful in its specificity and heartbreaking in its fragility. After that, we field some Feedback from listeners about our recent episodes on HIGHEST 2 LOWEST and THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?

Please share your thoughts about RUNNING ON EMPTY, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:04:58

Running on Empty Keynote: 00:04:58-00:09:39

Running on Empty Discussion: 00:09:39-00:44:26

Feedback/outro: 00:44:26-end

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#493: 'Til You Drop, Pt. 2 — The Long Walk Sep 30, 2025

It took decades in development hell for an adaptation of Stephen King’s THE LONG WALK to trudge its way into theaters, and now that it has, we’re of split opinions on how Francis Lawrence’s film goes about distinguishing itself from its source material, particularly in its graphic depiction of violence. There’s also the matter of the film’s very different ending, which we dig into once we move into Connections to compare how THE LONG WALK’s endurance contest compares to the one in Sydney Pollack’s THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?, in terms of how voluntary they actually are, what spectators get out of watching participants suffer, and what passes for victory in a contest where no one really wins. Then, in Your Next Picture Show, we devote a little time to revisiting a film franchise that came up repeatedly in our discussions of both these films: THE HUNGER GAMES.

Please share your thoughts about THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?, THE LONG WALK, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Paul Thomas Anderson’s ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER and Sidney Lumet’s RUNNING ON EMPTY

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:59

The Long Walk discussion: 00:01:59 - 00:30:14

The Long Walk / They Shoot Horses Connections: 00:30:14-01:01:49

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 01:01:49-end

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#492: 'Til You Drop, Pt. 1 — They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Sep 23, 2025

It took decades for THE LONG WALK to make it to the big screen, in part because the Stephen King novel on which it’s based is so unrelentingly grim — but as we discovered this week, it may actually be less so than the other half of this pairing, THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY. Set during the Great Depression and featuring a protagonist who is greatly depressed, Sydney Pollack’s 1969 drama about a marathon dance contest has little room for uplift, but it’s nonetheless full of interesting characters and performances, evocative filmmaking choices, and one of cinema’s all-time downer endings. After that discussion, we pick ourselves back up off the floor with the help of some feel-good Feedback from a long-time listener as we approach this podcast’s ten-year anniversary.

Please share your thoughts about THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY, THE LONG WALK, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:04:32

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They Keynote: 00:04:32-00:09:38

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They Discussion: 00:09:38-00:50:10

Feedback/outro: 00:52:06-end

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#491: Kings' Ransoms, Pt. 2 — Highest 2 Lowest Sep 16, 2025

Spike Lee’s HIGHEST 2 LOWEST is built on the rock-solid narrative foundation of HIGH AND LOW, but the “interpretation” of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 crime-thriller classic he builds atop it can be shaky at times. We’re all in agreement that HIGHEST 2 LOWEST has flaws, but whether those flaws add up to ruin or simply provide texture to a singular filmmaker’s singular film is up for discussion in the first part of this week’s episode. Then we move into Connections to see where Lee and Kurosawa’s films align and diverge when it comes to high-low metaphor and imagery, the intersection of media and public opinion, and the value of police work. And in Your Next Picture Show, Scott recommends an earlier collaboration between Lee and HIGHEST 2 LOWEST star Denzel Washington that has only grown in his estimation since its 1998 release.

Please share your thoughts about HIGH AND LOW, HIGHEST 2 LOWEST, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Francis Lawrence’s THE LONG WALK and Sydney Pollack’s THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY?

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:02

Highest 2 Lowest discussion: 00:02:02 - 00:30:51

Highest 2 Lowest / High and Low Connections: 00:30:51-01:12:02

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 01:12:02-end

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#490: Kings' Ransoms, Pt. 1 — High and Low (1963) Sep 09, 2025

The new HIGHEST 2 LOWEST includes an onscreen credit for “the master” Akira Kurosawa as inspiration for a film that has the same basic shape and mistaken-identity kidnapping premise of 1963’s HIGH AND LOW, but is still unmistakably a Spike Lee joint. So in order to better evaluate Lee’s modernization of a crime classic, we’re returning to the master’s version to see how Kurosawa himself reshaped HIGH AND LOW from its pulp-novel origins, utilizing a bifurcated structure and leading man Toshirō Mifune to challenge viewers’ assumed sympathies towards a villain and a victim on opposite sides of the class divide. Then in Feedback, a letter from a listener underlines a point about storytelling that HIGH AND LOW handily illustrates: the necessity of a three-act structure has been greatly exaggerated.

Please share your thoughts about HIGH AND LOW, HIGHEST 2 LOWEST, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:06:18

High and Low Keynote: 00:06:18-00:13:10

High and Low Discussion: 00:13:10-00:52:06

Feedback/outro: 00:52:06-end

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#489: The Kids Aren't Alright, Pt. 2 — Weapons Sep 02, 2025

Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS overlaps with Atom Egoyan’s THE SWEET HEREAFTER in both its broad narrative setup — a town grapples with the sudden disappearance of a group of children — and its non-traditional structure, but diverges considerably in its tone. Then again, WEAPONS diverges considerably from its own tone as it goes on, artfully shifting gears as it makes its way through a story that prioritizes entertainment value over horror allegory. We’re joined once again by Vulture movie critic Alison Willmore to talk about why that approach worked so well on us, and less so on the film’s detractors, before bringing THE SWEET HEREAFTER back in to discuss how each film’s broken timeline serves to reveal the intricacies of a community shattered by grief and anger. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we offer two recommendations for follow-up viewing, one for each half of this pairing.

Please share your thoughts about THE SWEET HEREAFTER, WEAPONS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Spike Lee’s HIGHEST 2 LOWEST and Akira Kurosawa’s HIGH AND LOW.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:14

Weapons discussion: 00:02:14 - 00:36:00

Weapons/The Sweet Hereafter Connections: 00:36:00-00:58:58

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:58:58-end

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#488: The Kids Aren't Alright, Pt. 1 — The Sweet Hereafter Aug 26, 2025

As a story about a community shattered by the disappearance of its children, Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS lured us, Pied Piper-like, toward Atom Egoyan’s 1997 film THE SWEET HEREAFTER, which doesn’t have quite as many jump scares as Cregger’s film, but makes up for it in enveloping sadness as it explores the far-reaching effects of a school bus crash on a small Canadian town. So this week we’re revisiting Egoyan’s film with the help of Vulture movie critic Alison Willmore, to discuss how telling this story out of order shapes both the narrative and the characterization, where certain performances help fill in blanks left by the dialogue, and what we’re meant to take from the film’s ending. Then, in lieu of Feedback, we’re acknowledging a tough loss for the Chicago film criticism community by celebrating some of the critics and editors who helped shape it, and us.

Please share your thoughts about THE SWEET HEREAFTER, WEAPONS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:44

The Sweet Hereafter Keynote: 00:02:44-00:08:09

The Sweet Hereafter Discussion: 00:08:09-00:59:15

Feedback/outro: 00:59:15-end

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#487: Double Drebin, Pt. 2 — The Naked Gun (2025) Aug 19, 2025

Akiva Schaffer’s new take on THE NAKED GUN sends up both the cop-story cliches that inspired the 1988 Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker original and the modern action tropes littering the filmography of star Liam Neeson, but at heart it’s less a genre parody than a spoof of nostalgia reboots like, well, this one. That meta layer is a major distinction between Schaffer’s film and the original, but it’s not the only one, so in between rehashing some of our favorite bits we attempt to determine where the new film’s ZAZ homage ends and its specific comedic sensibility begins. Then in Connections we use the many elements these two films share — bumbling cops and femmes fatale, a blend of timely and timeless humor, guns — to further distinguish between their approaches to satire, spoofery, and slapstick. And in Your Next Picture Show, our resident Quaid offers a recommendation for Schaffer’s podcast with his Lonely Island compatriots and Seth Meyers.

Please share your thoughts about any and all NAKED GUNs, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Zach Cregger’s WEAPONS and Atom Egoyan’s THE SWEET HEREAFTER

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:10

The Naked Gun 2025 discussion: 00:02:10 - 00:28:04

The Naked Gun 1988/2025 Connections: 00:28:04 - 00:55:54

Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes: 00:55:54-end

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#486: Double Drebin, Pt. 1 — The Naked Gun (1988) Aug 12, 2025

While technically a sequel, Akiva Schaffer’s new THE NAKED GUN is more accurately a reboot of the 1988 Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker cop-show spoof, which was itself a sequel-slash-reboot of their TV series POLICE SQUAD and would go on to spawn two sequels of its own. As circuitous as this IP has become over the years, though, THE NAKED GUN remains simple in both its approach and its appeal, which are essentially the same: lots and lots and lots of jokes. The original NAKED GUN was not unique in that approach, particularly within the spoof genre, but it is uniquely successful at it, so this week we’re parsing how it balances small comedic one-offs with drawn-out set pieces, contemporary references with timeless silliness, and broad mugging with underplayed straight-facedness. Then, in Feedback, a listener helps fill in some knowledge gaps from our recent F1 episode.

Please share your thoughts about any and all NAKED GUNs, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:59

Naked Gun Keynote: 00:03:59-00:10:01

Naked Gun Discussion: 00:10:01-00:45:29

Feedback/outro: 00:45:29-end

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Announcement: Next Pairing Aug 05, 2025

New pairing launching Tuesday, August 12th.

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485: Men of Steel, Pt. 2 — Superman (2025) Jul 29, 2025

By skipping the origin story and dropping viewers right into the action, James Gunn’s SUPERMAN avoids feeling like the franchise reset it is, and allows the director to get to work creating the sort of busy, quick-paced onscreen universe at which he excels. We’re joined once again by writer, podcaster, and Superman aficionado Chris Klimek to break exactly down why it works so well, as well as a few places where it doesn’t, before returning to the film that helped facilitate this shorthand approach, 1978’s SUPERMAN, to see how these different iterations of the title character — not to mention the familiar ensemble surrounding him — play in close proximity to each other. Can Superman be too corny? Is Lois Lane a good or terrible journalist? Why is Lex Luthor obsessed with land grabs, and what does his associate Eve Teschmacher actually add to these movies? We dig into all of that, then offer some options for Super-lementary viewing and reading in Your Next Picture Show.

Please share your thoughts about either and all versions of SUPERMAN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

00:00:00. Intro

00:03:58. Superman 2025 discussion

00:30:12. Superman 1978/2025 Connections

01:00:12. Your Next Picture Show and goodbyes

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#484: Men of Steel, Pt. 1 — Superman (1978) Jul 22, 2025

James Gunn’s new SUPERMAN begins from the assumption that audiences already have a working knowledge of the Man of Steel’s origin story, his super-skill set, and his romance with Lois Lane. Gunn’s film benefits greatly from being able to skip past the basics, but it wouldn’t have been possible without Richard Donner’s franchise-launching blockbuster SUPERMAN, which codified those basics for the big screen. So this week we’re spinning the planet backwards to 1978 and revisiting filmgoers’ first introduction to The Last Son Of Krypton — who we don’t properly meet until nearly an hour in because, as it turns out, there are about four different movies tucked inside SUPERMAN. We’re joined by writer, podcaster, and Supes superfan Chris Klimek to discuss how it all holds together from a modern perspective, and whether Christopher Reeve’s definitive performance is enough to overcome all the film’s flaws, or just most of them. Then in Feedback, the SINNERS conversation lives on, with a listener detailing its many connections to another film that we considered for that pairing.

Please share your thoughts about either and all versions of SUPERMAN, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

00:00:00 Intro

00:11:41 Superman Keynote

00:18:48 Superman Discussion

01:04:47 Feedback/outro

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#483: Kings of the Road, Pt. 2 — F1 Jul 15, 2025

On the one hand, the IMAX-driven spectacle of F1 is undeniably satisfying to watch on the big screen; on the other hand, we all walked out of Joseph Kosinski’s second teamup with producer Jerry Bruckheimer unsure whether it qualifies as a movie and not just a sophisticated simulation thereof. Despite the star power of Brad Pitt and a plethora of familiar sports-movie tropes, there’s a human element missing from F1 that left us all slightly perplexed, and which is thrown into even sharper relief when placed against the character-driven comedy of the other film in this pairing, TALLADEGA NIGHTS. But despite their drastically different points of view, the two share some uncanny similarities that we get into during Connections, from their shared narrative tension between team loyalty and individual glory, to a crash-and-burn approach to trauma, to a wallpaper-like view of corporate sponsorship. Then we take an extra lap on this racing pairing with a Your Next Picture show recommendation for the long-running Netflix docuseries F1: DRIVE TO SURVIVE.

Please share your thoughts about TALLADEGA NIGHTS, F1, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: James Gunn’s SUPERMAN and Richard Donner’s SUPERMAN

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:11

F1 discussion: 00:02:12-00:29:30

F1/Talladega Nights Connections: 00:29:31-00:50:44

Your Next Picture Show: 00:50:45-00:54:14

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:54:15-end

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#482: Kings of the Road, Pt. 1 — Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby Jul 08, 2025

The new F1 brings even more attention to a sport/brand that’s becoming as popular in the U.S. as it is internationally, but its application of sports-movie tropes to the world of racing, in particular its focus on an intersquad rivalry, has big, booming echoes in the defiantly American world of NASCAR as depicted in TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY. The 2006 Adam McKay/Will Ferrell comedy isn’t even two decades old, but as discussed in this week’s revisitation, its loose, improv-driven approach already feels like a relic of the past, and to what degree it all holds up today is a matter of some debate — though we can at least all agree that Baby Jesus is the best Jesus. After that, we dip into some listener Feedback inspired by a couple of new releases recently covered on the podcast, MATERIALISTS and PAVEMENTS.

Please share your thoughts about TALLADEGA NIGHTS, F1, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:08:55

Talladega Nights Keynote: 00:08:55-00:15:19

Talladega Nights Discussion: 00:15:19-00:51:14

Feedback/outro: 00:51:14-end

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#481: For Love or Money, Pt. 2 — Materialists Jul 01, 2025

Celine Song’s new MATERIALISTS feints at being a romcom, but it’s far too interested in the economic realities and calculated compromise of modern dating for the label to be a comfortable fit; its romantic leanings are more in line with the works of Jane Austen and several cinematic adaptations thereof, as laid out in the “movie syllabus” Song made for her film and which inspired this pairing. But MATERIALISTS is more of a riff on Austen than a flat-out homage, and Song’s spin on the material worked better for some than others on this panel. We get into that before bringing Austen back into the picture via Joe Wright’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE to see how past speaks to present when it comes to the intersection of wealth and marriage, the art of matchmaking, nature as the realm of romance vs. the cold scrutiny of society, and the centuries-spanning fear of being “left on the shelf” as a single woman. Then in Your Next Picture Show we touch on some of the other films on Song’s list and how they might have fit into this pairing as a triple feature.

Please share your thoughts about PRIDE & PREJUDICE, MATERIALISTS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Joseph Kosinski’s F1 THE MOVIE and Adam McKay’s TALLADEGA NIGHTS: THE BALLAD OF RICKY BOBBY

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:43

Materialists discussion: 00:02:43-26:43

Materialists/Pride & Prejudice Connections: 00:26:43-52:41

Your Next Picture Show: 00:52:41-00:57:11

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:57:11-end

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#480: For Love or Money, Pt. 1 — Pride & Prejudice (2005) Jun 24, 2025

Celine Song’s new not-quite-a-rom-com MATERIALISTS openly evokes Jane Austen in its focus on the rituals and codes of courtship, as well as its frankness about how one’s net worth can shape their romantic prospects. That could have led us to any number of Austen adaptations, but few as instantly beguiling as Joe Wright’s 2005 feature debut, PRIDE & PREJUDICE. So this week we’re discussing what makes Wright’s “muddy hem” take on the material stand out in a crowded field of Austen adaptations, whether the film’s lush style complements or drowns out its substance, and why that hand flex made such a meme-able impression. And in Feedback, a listener schools us on poetry and philosophy as it relates to the most opaque segment of I’M NOT THERE.

Please share your thoughts about PRIDE & PREJUDICE, MATERIALISTS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:41

Pride & Prejudice Keynote: 00:03:41-00:28:59

Pride & Prejudice Discussion: 00:28:59-48:23

Feedback/outro: 00:48:23-end

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#479: Musical Not-obiography, Pt. 2 — Pavements Jun 17, 2025

Like I’M NOT THERE, Alex Ross Perry’s new docu-like feature PAVEMENTS takes a “print the legend” approach to its subject, blurring reality and fiction to convey the significance of defining ‘90s indie rock group Pavement from a few different semi-fabricated angles. Is that approach better suited to established fans, including our returning guest and longtime friend Noel Murray, than it is to newcomers less equipped to parse how the film skews the band’s history and creative output? Perhaps, and we get into that this week before placing PAVEMENTS’ slanted snapshot next to I’M NOT THERE’s fractured Bob Dylan portrait to see how each attempts to portray an artist’s essence, if not their biography, and explores how fame can turn a person into a persona. And in Your Next Picture Show we recommend another one of Perry’s experiments in using music-biopic conventions to tell a different kind of rock-n-roll story, 2018’s HER SMELL.

Please share your thoughts about I’M NOT THERE, PAVEMENTS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Celine Song’s MATERIALISTS and Joe Wright’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:34

Friendship discussion: 00:02:34-00:31:28

Friendship/The Master Connections: 00:31:28-00:53:11

Your Next Picture Show: 00:53:11-00:57:40

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:57:40-end

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#478: Musical Not-obiography, Pt. 1 — I'm Not There Jun 10, 2025

Alex Ross Perry’s new hybrid documentary PAVEMENTS rejects convention in a way that’s both in keeping with the spirit of the ’90s indie-rock band at its center, and reminiscent of Todd Haynes’ deconstructed Bob Dylan biopic I’M NOT THERE. And while you arguably don’t need to be well-versed in either act to appreciate the films about them, it certainly doesn’t hurt, which is why we’ve brought in our old friend Noel Murray to help us parse two films that are more concerned with conveying an artist’s essence than their biography, beginning this week with I’M NOT THERE’s freewheelin’ approach to Bob Dylan. Then, in place of Feedback, our resident Dylan scholars provide several recommendations that offer some other, more straightforward angles from which to approach the man and his music.

Please share your thoughts about I’M NOT THERE, PAVEMENTS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:04:09

I’m Not There Keynote: 00:04:09-0010:12

I’m Not There Discussion: 00:10:12-00:43:23

Feedback/outro: 00:43:23-end

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#477: Pain Pals, Pt. 2 — Friendship Jun 03, 2025

We were admittedly a bit dubious going into this pairing, which was spoken into existence by writer-director Andrew DeYoung invoking THE MASTER when describing his new Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd comedy FRIENDSHIP, but it’s not the stretch we thought it would be. In fact, Paul Thomas Anderson’s discomfiting psychological drama proves such an interesting lens through which to view FRIENDSHIP’s discomfiting absurdist comedy that we move into Connections early, to discuss how each of these two films about lonely men at odds with their own reality bucks convention, not only in terms of narrative and character, but in style and structure as well. Then in Your Next Picture Show we give a glimpse of the episode that could have been if we had chosen the PTA film we went into FRIENDSHIP expecting to be reminded of (and still kind of were): PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE.

Please share your thoughts about THE MASTER, FRIENDSHIP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Alex Ross Perry’s PAVEMENTS and Todd Haynes’ I’M NOT THERE

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:57

Friendship discussion: 00:01:57-00:16:17

Friendship/The Master Connections: 00:16:17-00:48:01

Your Next Picture Show: 00:48:01-00:51:22

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 00:51:22-end

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#476: Pain Pals, Pt. 1 — The Master May 27, 2025

We can’t say that it would have occurred to us to pair the new Tim Robinson/Paul Rudd comedy FRIENDSHIP with THE MASTER if writer-director Andrew DeYoung hadn’t specifically invoked Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2012 psychological drama, but the two films do wind up being unexpectedly complementary portraits of relationships between emotionally unstable men. Plus, we’re happy to have an excuse to revisit THE MASTER, a slippery film wherein nearly every scene has a claim to being the most important one. So this week we’re taking a closer look at a few of those scenes and the multiple interpretations they invite. And in Feedback we’re still fielding listener interpretations of SINNERS, this time one that addresses one of Tasha’s only complaints about the film.

Please share your thoughts about THE MASTER, FRIENDSHIP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:06:04

"The Master" Keynote: 00:06:04-00:12:17

"The Master" Discussion:00:12:17-00:57:26

Feedback/outro: 00:57:26-end

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#475: Less Than Hero, Pt. 2 — Thunderbolts* May 20, 2025

The new THUNDERBOLTS* assembles a group of leftovers from various MCU stories to face off against their personal failings in a way that’s broadly reminiscent of, yet tonally distinct from, the wannabe superheroes of 1999’s MYSTERY MEN. It’s also tonally distinct from most recent Marvel projects in a way that we all responded to, even if we differ on whether THUNDERBOLTS* is punching above its power class in the metaphor department. We debate that before bringing MYSTERY MEN back in to explore the various power differentials both between and within these two groups of superheroes with self-esteem issues. And in Your Next Picture Show we entertain another hypothetical “misfit superheroes” pairing that Scott argues has a better claim to the “classic” designation than MYSTERY MEN.

Please share your thoughts about MYSTERY MEN, THUNDERBOLTS*, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Andrew DeYoung’s FRIENDSHIP and Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:39

Thunderbolts discussion: 00:01:39-00:34:23

Thunderbolts/Mystery Men Connections: 00:34:23-01:03:20

Your Next Picture Show: 01:03:20-01:06:51

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 01:06:51-end

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#474: Less Than Hero, Pt. 1 — Mystery Men May 13, 2025

The new THUNDERBOLTS* assembles some leftovers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe who are tough to describe as superheroes but nonetheless step up to save the day when their city needs them, which reminded us of MYSTERY MEN and its negligibly powered not-so-superteam. A flop in 1999, the comedy is as chaotic and sloppy as its titular (with an asterisk) group, but that imperfect charm is arguably central to the cult appreciation it’s attained since. So this week we’re taking a closer look at MYSTERY MEN’s small-time wannabe crime-fighters to determine how they fit into the bigger picture of modern superhero cinema. Then in Feedback, we keep the SINNERS conversation going with the help of some prompts from our listeners.

Please share your thoughts about MYSTERY MEN, THUNDERBOLTS*, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:07:56
Mystery Men Keynote: 00:07:57-00:15:51
Mystery Men Discussion: 00:15:52-00:45:35
Feedback/outro: 00:45:36-end

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#473: The Dead of Night, Pt. 2 — Sinners May 06, 2025

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:03

Sinners Discussion: 00:02:04-00:28:46

Connections: 00:28:47-1:02:37

Your Next Picture Show, next pairing, and goodbyes: 1:02-38-end

Director Ryan Coogler has been generous in sharing his many points of inspiration for SINNERS, including the other film in this pairing, but his exceptional new feature is refreshingly singular in both vision and execution. It makes for an admittedly lopsided comparison with FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, but also an illuminating one: examining Coogler’s vision through the lens of the 1996 Robert Rodriguez/Quentin Tarantino teamup sheds light on the added depth SINNERS brings to its own vampire mythology, criminal-brother protagonists, and mid-film genre shift. And in Your Next Picture Show, we briefly imagine the conversation we could have had if we’d instead paired SINNERS with the Coen brothers’ O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

Please share your thoughts about FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, SINNERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jake Schreier's THUNDERBOLTS and Kinka Usher’s MYSTERY MEN

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#472: The Dead of Night, Pt. 1 — From Dusk Till Dawn Apr 29, 2025

Comparing 1996's FROM DUSK TILL DAWN to the new SINNERS can feel a bit like, as Scott puts it, comparing “Chopsticks” to Beethoven’s Fifth. But Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s sleazy vampire flick was clearly on Ryan Coogler’s mind when crafting his own film about a pair of brothers who spend one fateful night defending a nightclub from an invading horde of the undead. Coogler’s film also has much more on its mind beyond that pulpy premise, which we’ll get into next week, but for now we’re digging as deep as we can into the shallow pleasures and frustrating shortcomings of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, from the awkward but arguably endearing performances from George Clooney and Tarantino as fugitive brothers, to the moments that test the limits of Rodriguez’s run-and-gun filmmaking approach — and yes, of course we have to talk about the foot stuff, too. Then in Feedback, we respond to a couple of listeners pushing back on some of our Cronenbergian categorization in the last pairing.

Please share your thoughts about FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, SINNERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:06:57

From Dusk Till Dawn Keynote: 00:06:57-00:11:55

From Dusk Till Dawn Discussion: 00:11:56-00:54:04

Feedback/outro: 00:54:04-end

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#471: Body By Cronenberg, Pt. 2 — The Shrouds Apr 22, 2025

Over the decades, David Cronenberg has carved a distinctive and provocative filmography out of his interest in human decay and death, up to and including his new THE SHROUDS, a late-career entry in the writer-director’s body-horror canon. It’s a film that left some of us confounded in a way that our returning guest, critic Charles Bramesco, might argue is part of its Cronenbergian appeal; but placing it next to THE FLY in Connections clarifies how much it’s simply an evolution of the same pet themes Cronenberg has been circling since 1986 (and earlier), from overlapping obsessions with the mutability of bodies and technology, to the horror and guilt of watching a loved one deteriorate before our very eyes. And in Your Next Picture Show, we’re inspired to talk over another recent, highly personal project from an elder-statesman auteur that received a mixed reception, and which we never got to cover on the show: Francis Ford Coppola’s MEGALOPOLIS.

Please share your thoughts about THE FLY, THE SHROUDS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Ryan Coogler’s SINNERS and Robert Rodriguez’s FROM DUSK TIL DAWN

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:00

The Shrouds discussion: 00:02:04-00:26:23

The Shrouds/The Fly Connections: 00:26:24-00:59:16

Your Next Picture Show: 00:59:17-01:03:15

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 1:03:16-end

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#470: Body By Cronenberg, Pt. 1 — The Fly (1986) Apr 15, 2025

The way David Cronenberg’s new THE SHROUDS splices together unsettling ideas about technology and bodily transformation made us think of… well, a lot of his filmography, but the film’s visceral interest in how the human body decays feels directly connected to the director’s unlikeliest hit, his remake of THE FLY. We’re joined this week by critic and our nascent “gross and scary” correspondent Charles Bramesco to teleport back to 1986 and examine what lies beneath the rotting flesh of THE FLY, from its tender central relationship to its oozing physical effects to its Howard Shore score, that makes it a distinctly Cronenbergian grossout. Then in Feedback, a listener uses our recent discussion of THE THIN MAN to broach a bigger question about what we value most in our mystery stories.

Please share your thoughts about THE FLY, THE SHROUDS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:03:38

The Fly Keynote: 00:03:39-00:08:18

The Fly Discussion: 00:08:19-00:44:11

Feedback/outro: 00:44:12-end

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#469: Mr. and Mrs. Mystery, Pt. 2 — Black Bag Apr 08, 2025

BLACK BAG, Steven Soderbergh’s latest 90-minute collaboration with writer David Koepp, is in theory a sprawling international spy thriller, but in practice it’s a more intimate study of how a marriage can thrive in an environment where trusting your spouse is considered a weakness. This week we talk about how that genre disconnect works for and against BLACK BAG, before bringing in this pairing’s companion film, 1934’s THE THIN MAN, to compare how Nick and Nora Charles’s bantering, crime-solving partnership compares to the cooler, less boozy charms of Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender’s married spies. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we reach back to one of this podcast’s very first episodes to cannibalize a recommendation for a film that we’ve already covered on the show, but was too clear an inspiration on BLACK BAG to ignore. (And really, is there ever a bad time to recommend WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?)

Please share your thoughts about THE THIN MAN, BLACK BAG, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: David Cronenberg’s THE SHROUDS and THE FLY

Chapters:

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:04

Black Bag discussion: 00:02:04-00:29:03

Black Bag/The Thin Man Connections: 00:29:03-00:58:35

Your Next Picture Show: 00:58:35-01:04:50

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 1:104:50-end

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#468: Mr. and Mrs. Mystery, Pt. 1 — The Thin Man Apr 01, 2025

Steven Soderbergh’s new BLACK BAG is a spy thriller, sure, but it’s also the story of a marriage, and watching its sophisticated central couple banter their way through a sprawling mystery, it’s hard not to be reminded of one of cinema’s most enduring and endearing crime-solving couples, Nick and Nora Charles. So this week we’re going back to their film debut, 1934’s THE THIN MAN, to see how W.S. Van Dyke’s (barely) pre-Code crime caper balances the effervescent charm of its hard-drinking stars against the plot mechanics of a murder mystery, and whether any of the film’s many supporting players ever manage to steal the spotlight from Nick, Nora, and their disobedient dog Asta. Then in Feedback, a listener writes in with a notable omission from our recent discussion of STARSHIP TROOPERS.

Please share your thoughts about THE THIN MAN, BLACK BAG, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Chapters:

Intro/favorite movie dinner scenes: 00:00:00-00:08:44

The Thin Man Keynote: 00:08:45-00:15:43

The Thin Man Discussion: 00:15:44-00:56:44

Feedback/outro: 00:56:45-end

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#467: Kill 'Em All, Pt. 2 — Mickey 17 Mar 25, 2025

Bong Joon Ho’s new MICKEY 17 takes a lot of big swings, from star Robert Pattinson’s vocal affectation to a comedic fixation on “sauce,” all of it in service of big, bold, arguably blunt satire. It all makes for a somewhat messy but highly discussable film, both on its own and in conversation with Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, another big swing of a sci-fi satire that aims to entertain as it undermines propagandistic societies where leaders rule by catchphrase, where citizenship is conditional, and where working-class lives are expendable. We dive into all of that, plus space bugs that may not actually be bugs, then offer a Your Next Picture Show recommendation for another MICKEY 17 pairing contender, Duncan Jones’ MOON.

Please share your thoughts about STARSHIP TROOPERS, MICKEY 17, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: Steven Soderbergh’s BLACK BAG and W.S. Van Dyke’s THE THIN MAN

Chapters:

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:55

Mickey 17 discussion: 00:01:56-00:31:19

Mickey 17/Starship Troopers Connections: 00:31:20-1:07:03

Your Next Picture Show: 1:07:04-1:12:50

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 1:12:51-1:16:11

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#466: Kill 'Em All, Pt. 1 — Starship Troopers Mar 18, 2025

This week’s pairing is brought to you by: space bugs! Specifically, space bugs as a metaphor for a fascistic society’s disregard for any perceived-to-be-lower life form, human or otherwise. Inspired by the clear satire of Bong Joon Ho’s new MICKEY 17, we’re revisiting Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS, whose satirical intent was less clear to some audiences when it hit theaters in 1997. Today, while we’re on the same page as far as what Verhoeven was going for with his propagandistic display of military might, opinions still differ among our panel as to how well he pulled it off. We get into that disagreement, as well as the surprisingly enduring effects and the improbability of a film like this being made in Hollywood today. Then in Feedback, a listener inspired by a recent pairing shares their reaction to a first-time viewing of THE KILLING FIELDS.

Please share your thoughts about STARSHIP TROOPERS, MICKEY 17, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Intro/space threats discussion: 00:00:00-00:06:02

Starship Troopers Keynote: 00:06:03-00:11:41

Starship Trooper Discussion: 00: 11:42-00:52:46

Feedback/outro: 00:52:47-end

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#465: Late Innings, Pt. 2 — Eephus Mar 11, 2025

Carson Lund’s feature debut EEPHUS moves at the same deliberate pace as the trick pitch for which it’s named, leisurely unfolding over the course of a season-ending game between two small-town recreation leagues that’s also probably the last time many on the field will ever play. This week we’re joined again by film critic and baseball lover Tim Grierson to discuss how EEPHUS approaches that sense of finality with low-key humor and a subtle sense of nostalgia, before bringing Ron Shelton’s BULL DURHAM back on the field to compare these two films’ ideas about aging, masculinity, and America’s pastime, emphasis on the “past.” And in Your Next Picture Show we offer a recommendation for another unconventional baseball movie that offers a rarely seen perspective on the game, 2008’s SUGAR.

Please share your thoughts about BULL DURHAM, EEPHUS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: Bong Joon Ho’s MICKEY 17 and Paul Verhoeven’s STARSHIP TROOPERS

Chapters:

Intro: 00:00:00-00:01:51

Eephus discussion: 00:01:52-00:27:37

Connections: 00:27:38-1:00:12

Your Next Picture Show: 1:00:13-1:04:25

Next episode preview and goodbyes: 1:04:26-end

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#464: Late Innings, Pt. 1 — Bull Durham Mar 04, 2025

Quietly observing as a small-town recreation league plays out their last game of the season, and likely ever, the new EEPHUS is a feature-length subversion of “the big game,” simultaneously embracing and rejecting such baseball-movie cliches in a manner that reminded us of 1988’s BULL DURHAM. We’re joined this week by pinch-hitter Tim Grierson to discuss all the ways Ron Shelton’s classic, often cited as the best baseball movie ever, throws out the sports-movie playbook, from its multiple protagonists and rom-com structure to its acknowledgment that baseball, like life, has an expiration date. And in Feedback, a frequent contributor returns with some bonus observations from our recent pairing of PRESENCE and THE OTHERS.

Intro/favorite movie sports teams: 00:00:00-00:08:51

Bull Durham Keynote: 00:08:51-00:14:55

Bull Durham Discussion: 00:14:56-00:56:14

Feedback/outro: 00:56:14-end

Please share your thoughts about BULL DURHAM, EEPHUS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#463: War Bonds, Pt. 2 — No Other Land Feb 25, 2025

The story of two journalists reporting on a common cause despite their vastly different backgrounds is what gives NO OTHER LAND its narrative shape — and is what inspired us to pair it with 1984’s THE KILLING FIELDS — but the Oscar-nominated documentary is at heart a story about activism, and the weight of maintaining hope amid a generations-spanning conflict with no resolution in sight. We’re joined again this week by Slate culture writer Sam Adams to discuss how NO OTHER LAND makes the political personal, then bring THE KILLING FIELDS back in to compare these two portrayals of journalism from very different moments in journalism history, and the quandaries of privilege and guilt that accompany partnerships of unequals. Then in Your Next Picture Show we tout SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA and Jonathan Demme’s ability to spin Spalding Gray’s monologue about his bit role in THE KILLING FIELDS into a BTS feature like none other.

Intro: 00:00:00-00:02:25

No Other Land discussion: 00:02:26-00:24:28

Connections: 00:24:29-00:46:00

Your Next Picture Show/Goodbyes: 00:46:01-00:56:35

Please share your thoughts about THE KILLING FIELDS, NO OTHER LAND, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Carson Lund’s EEPHUS and Ron Shelton’s BULL DURHAM

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#462: War Bonds, Pt. 1 — The Killing Fields Feb 18, 2025

Intro & Oscars Chitchat: 00:00:00-00:08:52

Keynote: 00:08:53-00:13:50

The Killing Fields Discussion: 00:13:51-44:37

Feedback & Outro: 00:44:38-end

Summary:

The Oscar-nominated documentary NO OTHER LAND, a collaboration between Palestinian and Israeli filmmakers whose common cause and eventual friendship does not change the stark contrast in their political status, brought to mind another story of two journalists from strikingly different backgrounds who bond in the midst of a geopolitical hotspot: 1984’s THE KILLING FIELDS. We’re joined this week by Slate writer and critic Sam Adams to revisit Roland Joffé’s dramatization of the relationship between New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg and Dith Pran, the Cambodian interpreter who worked alongside him as the country fell to the Khmer Rouge, to consider how THE KILLING FIELDS plays several decades removed from a conflict that would have been recent history for contemporary audiences. And in Feedback we share a listener’s explanation for one of our lingering questions from our recent discussion of THE OTHERS.

Please share your thoughts about THE KILLING FIELDS, NO OTHER LAND, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#461: House Haunters, Pt. 2 — Presence Feb 11, 2025

Steven Soderbergh’s new PRESENCE flips the typical haunted house narrative inside out, but unlike the other film in this pairing, THE OTHERS, it makes its point of view clear from the opening frames. But that POV doesn’t slide fully into focus until PRESENCE’s final-act reveal, which left us with some questions, both critical and metaphysical, to dig into this week. Then we bring THE OTHERS back into the conversation to discuss how these two very different takes on the haunted house — one classical, one revisionist — each makes use of confined space, complex parent-child dynamics, and ambiguity about how time functions in an eternal afterlife. Then we keep the ghost stories coming in Your Next Picture Show, with some recommendations for films with an unusual or memorable perspective on domestic hauntings.

Intro: (00:00:00-00:01:58)

Presence review (spoiler-free): (00:01:590-00:20:10)

Presence review continued (spoilers): (00:20:11-00:27:56)

Connections: (00:27:57-00:56:14)

Your Next Picture Show: (00:56:15-01:06:50)

Next episode preview and credits: (01:06:51-01:11:05)

Please share your thoughts about THE OTHERS, PRESENCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Your Next Picture Show:

• David Lowery’s A GHOST STORY

• Guillermo del Toro’s CRIMSON PEAK

• Jack Clayton’s THE INNOCENTS

• Sidney J. Furie’s THE ENTITY

Next Pairing: NO OTHER LAND and THE KILLING FIELDS

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#460: House Haunters, Pt. 1 — The Others Feb 04, 2025

Steven Soderbergh’s new PRESENCE is an unconventional haunted house story with a twist that reminded us of 2001’s THE OTHERS, though to say exactly why risks spoiling how Alejandro Amenábar performs his own twist on a comparatively traditional haunted house story. That twist forms the foundation of our discussion this week, which freely roams spoiler territory as we consider how the ending revelation shapes our understanding of THE OTHERS' perspective on religion and the afterlife, and how the film’s abundant symbolism lines up with its narrative as a ghost story. Then in Feedback, we revisit our recent “Fanged Attraction” pairing with a couple of listeners offering their own interpretations of BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA and NOSFERATU.

Please share your thoughts about THE OTHERS, PRESENCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#459: Fanged Attraction Pt. 2 — Nosferatu (2024) Jan 28, 2025

Given their shared source material, Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU and Francis Ford Coppola’s BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA understandably have a lot overlap in terms of plot and character, but the two films are miles apart in their interpretation of that source material, particularly as applied to its titular vampire. We’re of split opinions on Eggers’ bleak, monster-forward characterization of Orlock, especially how it plays against NOSFERATU’s ideas about female desire and sexuality, but agree it provides a fascinating counterpoint to Coppola’s florid spin on the Count as a tragic romantic antihero. We examine that contrast further in Connections alongside other character parallels — the Renfields, the Van Helsings, the maidens fair — as well as how the two films’ diverging styles each reinforce their filmmaker’s take on the title character. And in place of Your Next Picture Show, we offer some impromptu reflections on the life and work of David Lynch, who died the day this episode was recorded.

Please share your thoughts about BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, NOSFERATU, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Steven Soderbergh’s PRESENCE and Alejandro Amenábar’s THE OTHERS

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#458: Fanged Attraction, Pt. 1 — Bram Stoker's Dracula Jan 21, 2025

The heightened gothic sensibility of Robert Eggers’ new NOSFERATU recalls — in its intensity if not its precise contours — BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, Francis Ford Coppola’s feverish 1992 horror-romance that follows the same story from a markedly different perspective. This led us to reconsider Coppola’s flawed but fascinating DRACULA as a film that, even if it arguably never achieves greatness, inarguably leaves an impression. Yes, Keanu Reeves’ accent is part of that impression, but so is the film’s grandiose art design, its recasting of Dracula as a tragic romantic antihero, and its overall commitment to cinematic maximalism, for better or worse.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, NOSFERATU, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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A Brief Interruption in Service Jan 14, 2025

Hey Next Picture Show listeners, sorry there’s no new episode in your feed today. Real life got in the way of podcast life and prevented us from recording our next pairing in time to release it this week. But we will be back next Tuesday with part one of our double feature comparing Robert Eggers’ new Nosferatu with Frances Ford Coppola’s own take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula from 1992. If you’re playing along at home, the former is in theaters now, while Coppola’s Dracula is digitally rentable from the usual outlets, and available in an array of physical-media releases to purchase — or perhaps check out from your local library. We hope you’ll enjoy both movies, and join us next week as we sink our teeth into this pairing.

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#457: Our Top Films of 2024 Jan 07, 2025

With the beginning of a new year comes our customary look back, as Keith, Scott, and Tasha gather once again to compare their personal lists of the best films of 2024. While there is some crossover among their picks — particularly when it comes to films that have been discussed in-depth on this podcast — there is much more variance, reflective of a movie year that was light on prestige-season heavyweights, and full of memorably idiosyncratic, personal projects that will stick with us long past year’s end.

Please share your thoughts about, and your own picks for, the best movies of 2024, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Robert Eggers’ NOSFERATU and Francis Ford Coppola’s BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA

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#456: Long Gone, Pt. 2 — Nickel Boys Dec 24, 2024

The moments in NICKEL BOYS that nod to 1958’s THE DEFIANT ONES are less direct citations than stylized invocations by director RaMell Ross, who incorporates a number of abstractions and flourishes into the film’s visual language. Chief among those stylistic gambits is the film’s use of first-person perspective, which kicks off our discussion of NICKEL BOYS’ uniquely textured take on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning novel. From there we consider the deeper meaning and intent behind NICKEL BOYS’ use of visuals and audio from THE DEFIANT ONES, and where the two films overlap in their ideas about racial justice in the Jim Crow South and clashing philosophies of idealism and realism. Then our returning guest co-host Noel Murray offers a Your Next Picture Show recommendation for another social-issue film from the team behind THE DEFIANT ONES.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE DEFIANT ONES, NICKEL BOYS, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#455: Long Gone, Pt. 1 — The Defiant Ones Dec 17, 2024

Stanley Kramer’s 1958 feature THE DEFIANT ONES, a film very much of its time, makes multiple on-screen appearances in RaMell Ross’ new NICKEL BOYS, a film about the way the past haunts the present. Both movies take place in the Jim Crow-era South and engage with that setting’s lopsided ideas about justice, but THE DEFIANT ONES does so from a much more straightforward approach, operating as both a stylish thriller about two escaped prisoners, one black (Sidney Poitier) and one white (Tony Curtis), and an earnest allegory about interracial acceptance. That latter quality makes it easy to lump in with Kramer’s other “message movies,” which are often dismissed from a modern vantage point as stodgy and sanctimonious, so we’re revisiting THE DEFIANT ONES, with an assist from critic and pal Noel Murray, to see whether it earns or defies that reputation. And in Feedback we revisit our WIZARD OF OZ discussion with a reader suggestion of another child female protagonist who rivals Dorothy when it comes to teary helplessness.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE DEFIANT ONES, NICKEL BOYS, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#454: The Witch Is Back, Pt. 2 — Wicked Dec 10, 2024

The antagonist becomes the protagonist in Jon M. Chu’s WICKED, which adapts a stage musical — the first act, anyway — which adapts a novel that flipped the script on 1939’s THE WIZARD OF OZ (itself an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s novel). So while there are plenty of narrative and character parallels between the two films, they often run perpendicular to each other in their respective notions of good and wicked. But the two films are certainly aligned in their aim to be big-screen spectacles of the highest order, though opinions differ among our hosts as to what degree WICKED achieves that goal in its heavily CGI-ed and halved form. Following that debate, we pit Dorothy and Elphaba against each other to see what each protagonist has to offer when it comes to fish-out-of-water pluck, character-defining“I Want” songs, and willingness to trust in that scoundrel the Wizard. And for Your Next Picture Show, Scott wheels out a recommendation for one of the weirder, but strangely enduring, cinematic visions of Oz.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE WIZARD OF OZ, WICKED, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: RaMell Ross’s NICKEL BOYS and Stanley Kramer’s THE DEFIANT ONES

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#453: The Witch Is Back, Pt. 1 — The Wizard of Oz Dec 03, 2024

The new movie musical WICKED, along with the Broadway show and novel that preceded it, is specifically out to subvert the version of the magical land of Oz that was codified in 1939’s THE WIZARD OF OZ, making it the perfect time to consider what made that film a phenomenon to be subverted in the first place. So this week we wade into the vast, varied legacy of THE WIZARD OF OZ to discuss why it overcame its initial box-office failure to become a perennial family classic; which of the film’s enduring elements feel most of their time; and how that “it was all a dream” framework contributes to the film’s appeal. And in Feedback, a listener hits us with some historical context regarding a question raised in our recent episode on THE BEST MAN.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE WIZARD OF OZ, WICKED, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#452: Cinde-F***ing-Rella, Pt. 2 — Anora Nov 26, 2024

Sean Baker’s ANORA takes the fairy-tale premise of 1990’s PRETTY WOMAN as its starting point, but ends up on a very different route to a very different sort of happy ending. It’s also a best-of-the year contender for most of us, so we spend some time discussing what makes it so before bringing its romcom predecessor back in to consider how these two films about sex workers falling for their wealthy clients are in conversation when it comes to classicism and social hierarchies, conspicuous consumption, and what happens when a transactional relationship evolves into something more. And in Your Next Picture Show, we offer a pair of recommendations that illustrate the cinematic endurance of this particular premise.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PRETTY WOMAN, ANORA, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jon M. Chu’s WICKED and Victor Fleming’s THE WIZARD OF OZ

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#451: Cinde-F***ing-Rella, Pt. 1 — Pretty Woman Nov 19, 2024

Sean Baker’s new ANORA takes its initial cues from 1990’s PRETTY WOMAN, but its story of a sex worker who develops romantic feelings for a client in spite of class difference and social stigma soon peels off in a vastly different direction. So this week we’re focusing on that shared starting point to determine what makes PRETTY WOMAN both a deeply weird depiction of sex work and a resoundingly successful romcom — and no, it’s not just Julia Roberts, though it’s hard to imagine us discussing PRETTY WOMAN as a classic film today without that star-making performance. And in Feedback, a listener question about theaters' embrace of faith-based films prompts a broader discussion of how and why multiplexes are diversifying their offerings.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about PRETTY WOMAN, ANORA, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#450: Ballot Wounds, Pt. 2 — Conclave Nov 12, 2024

Edward Berger’s new CONCLAVE is a low-key, intimate political thriller full of unexpected reveals, but fundamentally about power, purity, belief, compromise, perception, and committee decisions. This week we share our thoughts on CONCLAVE’s insular focus and messaging around religion and politics before considering how its power brokers and kingmakers compare to those found in the 1964 presidential-candidate drama THE BEST MAN, and the two films’ overlapping ideas about whether politics demands hypocrisy. And for Your Next Picture Show, we offer a recommendation for THE DEATH OF STALIN, a radically different movie about the vacuum left when a powerful man dies, and the jockeying and chicanery that follows.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BEST MAN, CONCLAVE, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Sean Baker’s ANORA and Garry Marshall’s PRETTY WOMAN.

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#449: Ballot Wounds, Pt. 1 — The Best Man Nov 05, 2024

While the new CONCLAVE concerns the election of a new pope, its intrigue, backstabbing, and backroom deals have many echoes in secular politics, in particular those found in 1964’s THE BEST MAN. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and written by Gore Vidal adapting his own stage play, the film’s depiction of the behind-the-scenes machinations involved to secure an unnamed party’s nomination for the presidency is relevant both to its era and our current political moment, albeit in different ways. But how deep does its cynicism about the system of elections, and those who manage to make that system work for them, go? We talk through that, as well as how THE BEST MAN’s women function within that system, before taking on some listener feedback about streaming availability that doubles as an excuse to endorse a system we can all get behind: public libraries.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE BEST MAN, CONCLAVE, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#448: One Night Only, Pt. 2 — Saturday Night Oct 29, 2024

In its attempt to capture the chaotic comedic alchemy leading up to the first-ever SNL broadcast, Jason Reitman’s SATURDAY NIGHT is carrying the weight of the show’s nearly 50-year legacy and its personification in protagonist Lorne Michaels. Whether it manages to get off the ground despite that is up for debate in the first half of this week’s discussion, before we bring in another tense evening in ’70s New York to see how ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY compares in its depiction of a late-night highwire act and the pressure to pull off a performance with many moving parts on a deadline, and what each depiction reveals about the nature of creative collaboration. And in Your Next Picture Show we offer a brief glimpse at an alternate-universe episode in which we paired SATURDAY NIGHT with Robert Altman’s final film, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY, SATURDAY NIGHT, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Edward Berger’s CONCLAVE and Franklin J. Schaffer’s THE BEST MAN

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#447: One Night Only, Pt. 1 — Original Cast Album: Company Oct 22, 2024

Capturing the tense hours leading to a pivotal moment in live TV history, the new SATURDAY NIGHT is defined by a looming deadline that reminded us of another New York-based all-nighter captured on film: D.A. Pennebaker’s 1970 TV pilot turned documentary film ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY. Despite being less than an hour long, the fly-on-the-wall document of Stephen Sondheim and company recording the definitive version of their Broadway hit in a single night provides no shortage of nuance to dig into like we’re Sondheim parsing an F sharp that’s drifted to A. And in Feedback we bring a comment from a recent bonus episode on BLINK TWICE over to the main show in order to discuss the relative value of movie twists.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY, SATURDAY NIGHT, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#446: Machine Learning, Pt. 2 — The Wild Robot Oct 15, 2024

The new Dreamworks animated feature THE WILD ROBOT is partially about the struggles of parenthood, partially about the joys of community, and the larger idea bridging those two parts — that of being more than you were “programmed” to be — is also what links it most directly to Brad Bird’s THE IRON GIANT. But there’s a lot more going on in THE WILD ROBOT besides that, arguably too much, which forms the central debate of the first half of this week’s discussion. Then we bring THE IRON GIANT back in to compare these films’ shared big ideas about selfhood, souls, and sacrifice, how they’re filtered through robots as metaphors of strength, and their respective depictions of humanity on the precipice of apocalypse. Then for Your Next Picture Show, we offer a trio of recommendations for films that account for other parts of WILD ROBOT’s source code.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE IRON GIANT, THE WILD ROBOT, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jason Reitman’s SATURDAY NIGHT and D.A. Pennebaker’s ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM: COMPANY

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#445: Machine Learning, Pt. 1 — The Iron Giant Oct 08, 2024

It’s understandable that new Dreamworks feature THE WILD ROBOT pulls some of its source code from THE IRON GIANT, considering the latter’s towering reputation as one of the greatest animated films ever, robot protagonist or otherwise. But the enduring legacy of Brad Bird’s debut feature was far from assured when it blipped through theaters back in 1999, so this week we’re examining what’s behind the film’s upgrade from box-office flop to stone-cold classic, one known for its ability to reduce viewers to tears with a single word of dialogue. And in Feedback, a listener offers a different interpretation of a character moment from our discussion of THE SAVAGES.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE IRON GIANT, THE WILD ROBOT, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#444: Heir Grievances Pt. 2 — His Three Daughters Oct 01, 2024

Azazel Jacobs’ HIS THREE DAUGHTERS is, like Tamara Jenkins’ THE SAVAGES, a film about the heartbreaking experience of caring for an aging parent, but even more so it is, also like the other film in the pairing, about adult siblings reuniting and renegotiating their relationships under those fraught conditions. We’re decidedly more mixed on Jacobs’ film, however, which often plays like a stage adaptation — at times that works, at others it doesn’t, and we talk through both in the first half of this discussion. Then we bring THE SAVAGES back in to consider how each film is shaped by its relative proximity to the end of life, their overlapping perspectives on professional caretakers and those who deal with death for a living, and the realism and usefulness of their pop-cultural reference points. And in Your Next Picture Show we take a brief tour of Tamara Jenkins’s short but mighty feature filmography to date.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE SAVAGES, HIS THREE DAUGHTERS, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Chris Sanders’ THE WILD ROBOT and Brad Bird’s THE IRON GIANT

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#443: Heir Grievances Pt. 1 — The Savages Sep 24, 2024

Caring for an elderly or infirm parent is a common experience that is less commonly depicted on screen, particularly with a comedic bent, which is why Azazal Jacobs’ new HIS THREE DAUGHTERS inspired us to revisit the 2007 dramedy THE SAVAGES, which writer-director Tamara Jenkins drew from her own experiences dealing with a father with dementia. Much of the film’s success lies with the performances of Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman as siblings whose estranged father’s deteriorating condition serves as catalyst for their own midlife crises, and a script that trusts in their performances to convey the situation’s unexpected yet accurate mingling of tragedy and comedy. Then in Feedback we get negative, with one listener writing in about why a recent film we covered “broke” them, and another inviting us to share the beloved films that we just can’t help but dislike.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE SAVAGES, HIS THREE DAUGHTERS, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#442: Fuzz Busters, Pt. 2 — Rebel Ridge Sep 17, 2024

Jeremy Saulnier’s REBEL RIDGE puts a distinctly 2020s spin on the one-man army formula established in the era-defining ‘80s action hit FIRST BLOOD, resulting in a film with more nuance, less firepower, and equal amounts of ass-kicking. We parse that equation a bit more in-depth in our spoiler-light discussion of REBEL RIDGE, before bringing back FIRST BLOOD to see how the decades between the two films shape their respective ideas about escalation of force, small-town policing, and genre politics. And for Your Next Picture Show, we offer a quick-hit ranking of Saulnier’s filmography to date.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about FIRST BLOOD, REBEL RIDGE, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Azazel Jacobs’ HIS THREE DAUGHTERS and Tamara Jenkins’ THE SAVAGES

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#441: Fuzz Busters, Pt. 1 — First Blood Sep 10, 2024

Genre specialist Jeremy Saulnier’s latest banger, REBEL RIDGE, owes an obvious debt to the film that kicked off Sylvester Stallone’s second long-running franchise, 1982’s FIRST BLOOD, but the two films are of very different eras with very different core concerns about policing in America. So this week we’re focusing on the shadow of Vietnam that falls over the Pacific Northwest in the form of John Rambo, digging into the deeper themes that lie beneath the proverbial pissing contest between FIRST BLOOD’s ticking time bomb of a protagonist and the antagonistic police chief who foolishly sets him off. And in Feedback we revisit our ALIENS discussion with a deep reference and some head-cannon fodder from our listeners.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about FIRST BLOOD, REBEL RIDGE, and anything else in the world of film by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#440: They Mostly Come at Night, Pt. 2 — Alien: Romulus Sep 03, 2024

Fede Álvarez’s ALIEN: ROMULUS is at its core an act of homage to the larger franchise, but is that a feature, a bug, or both? That’s a question we attempt to reconcile in our discussion of Álvarez’s acid-blood-soaked film, before comparing how this late-stage sequel compares with the franchise’s original sequel, James Cameron’s ALIENS, in iterating on the corporate meddling of Weyland-Yutani, the evolving nature of artificial humans, and comedy as characterization. And for Your Next Picture Show, we pivot hard away from this franchise-driven pairing for a recommendation of Spanish filmmaker Víctor Erice’s first feature in over three decades, CLOSE YOUR EYES.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ALIENS, ALIEN: ROMULUS, and anything else in the world of film and/or xenomorphs, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jeremy Saulnier’s REBEL RIDGE and Ted Kotcheff’s FIRST BLOOD

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#439: They Mostly Come at Night, Pt. 1 — Aliens Aug 27, 2024

Fede Álverez’s ALIEN: ROMULUS is so reference-packed that an argument could be made for pairing it with just about any ALIEN film, but since we’ve already discussed the 1979 original, and because the Next Picture Show bylaws state that if an opportunity to discuss ALIENS arises we must take it, we’re digging into the first of the many sequels this franchise has spawned. Thanks to writer-director James Cameron’s economy of storytelling, there are so many iconic moments, characters, and lines to discuss that we barely scratch the surface this week, though, rest assured, ROMULUS will provide us with many more avenues into the film’s greater legacy and mythology next week. And then we keep the franchise fever going in Feedback with a listener prompt about the feeling of being “done” with a once-beloved film series.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ALIENS, ALIEN: ROMULUS, and anything else in the world of film and/or xenomorphs, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#438: Dial 'M' For Manhunt, Pt. 2 — Trap Aug 20, 2024

Is it a bit unfair to compare M. Night Shyamalan’s new grip-it-and-rip-it thriller TRAP to Fritz Lang’s 1931 cinematic landmark M? Sure, but that’s the name of the game here on The Next Picture Show, and for all of TRAP’s faults — which we try not to take too much glee in enumerating in this discussion — it does work, however awkwardly, as an extrapolation of the ideas and narrative techniques first established in Lang’s film. From its interest in exploring the mind of a serial killer to its depiction of law-enforcement overreach, there’s plenty in TRAP that feels like it’s echoing M, though whether Shyamalan does so with enough purpose to suggest a larger thematic statement like M’s is another question entirely.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about M, TRAP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Fede Álvarez’s ALIEN: ROMULUS and James Cameron’s ALIENS.

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#437: Dial 'M' For Manhunt, Pt. 1 — M (1931) Aug 13, 2024

The new TRAP, like so many M. Night Shyamalan movies, openly courts comparisons to the work of Alfred Hitchcock, but its focus on the large-scale manhunt for a serial killer combined with its psychological interest in said killer has roots even further back in film history. So this week we reach all the way back to Fritz Lang’s first talkie, 1931’s M, to see how it frames the search for a compulsive child murderer decades before the term “serial killer” existed, and sort through the film’s many distinctive and influential elements, from its pessimistic view of law and order to its iconic whistling motif. Then in Feedback, a listener prompt gets us feeling nostalgic for some of our favorite and/or formative theatrical experiences.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about M, TRAP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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Announcement: Next Pairing Aug 06, 2024

No show this week, but NPS co-host Genevieve Koski announces the next pairing, inspired by M. Night Shyamalan's "Trap."

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#436: Killer Instincts, Pt. 2 — Longlegs Jul 30, 2024

Osgood Perkins’ new LONGLEGS shares some clear narrative and thematic DNA with THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but it’s much more bizarre and divisive in its approach to horror-adjacent serial killer storytelling than Jonathan Demme’s crowd-pleasing, Oscar-sweeping hit. We’re joined again this week by critic and author Charles Bramesco to talk through the varying degrees to which we vibed with Perkins’ style and Nicolas Cage’s central performance, before bringing LONGLEGS’ predecessor back into the conversation to compare the points of overlap and distinction between these two films about newbie female FBI agents, unconventional serial killers, and the traumatic backstories that drive them both. And in Your Next Picture Show we take stock of Oz Perkins’ small but already idiosyncratic directorial filmography to date.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, LONGLEGS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#435: Killer Instincts, Pt. 1 — The Silence of the Lambs Jul 23, 2024

There’s no doubt that director Osgood Perkins had Jonathan Demme’s THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS in mind when he made the new LONGLEGS, but there are as many fascinating contrasts as there are comparisons between these two films about inexperienced female FBI agents and seasoned serial killers. But before getting into those next episode, this week we’re joined by critic and author Charles Bramesco for an in-depth revisitation of SILENCE OF THE LAMBS that digs into how the “Demme Touch” elevated a potentially lurid procedural to an Oscar-sweeping sensation, why its artful exploration of trauma inspired a legion of imitators, and how its sidestepping of trans identity plays in an era that’s much more attuned to that conversation. And in Feedback, a listener deconstructs a couple of our recent pairings and reconstructs them as inversions of the same story.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, LONGLEGS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#434: Full House, Pt. 2 — Janet Planet Jul 16, 2024

Pulitzer-winning playwright Annie Baker’s filmmaking debut JANET PLANET is sort of a dual coming-of-age story, centering a young girl’s fascination with her single mother who is still figuring out her own place in the world. But it also resists broad statements and neat conclusions, giving us space to unpack our own interpretations of the emotional depths that lie beneath the film’s quiet exterior. Then we bring Lukas Moodysson’s TOGETHER back into the discussion to compare its non-judgmental eye toward low-impact parenting, especially in the face of adult drama, and greater interest in the human drive for connection to those of JANET PLANET. And in Your Next Picture Show we share our runner-up contender for this week’s pairing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TOGETHER, JANET PLANET, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Oz Perkins’ LONGLEGS and Jonathan Demme’s SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

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#433: Full House, Pt. 1 — Together (2000) Jul 09, 2024

The new JANET PLANET follows a young girl who comes to see the world differently thanks to a succession of people her hippyish single mother brings into their lives, and more specifically into the home they share. Its sense of the fraught sense of intimacy that accompanies cohabitation by family members and lovers brought to mind Lukas Moodysson’s TOGETHER, another film that’s interested in how its characters’ progressive politics overlap and even interfere with their family dynamics. This week we talk through how TOGETHER shows affection for the residents of its titular commune in spite of, or perhaps because of, their foibles, what the film’s unresolved ending leaves up to interpretation, and how a parent’s journey of self-realization can really do a number on their parenting instincts. And in Feedback, a very thoughtful letter about the underappreciated value of Disney Princess culture leads to an unexpected conclusion.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about TOGETHER, JANET PLANET, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#432: Pixar's Girl Story, Pt. 2 — Inside Out 2 Jul 02, 2024

When thinking of a film to pair with INSIDE OUT 2, we purposefully avoided the new Pixar sequel’s 2015 original because the two are so of a piece, delving into the contrasts between them seemed too much like nitpicking. Still, we attempt to make fruitful discussion out of those nitpicks in this week’s conversation about the new film, and perhaps even change one panelist’s opinion of it in the process. Then we bring in the film we actually chose for this pairing, 2012’s BRAVE, which we all agree isn’t as much of a Pixar all-timer as the original INSIDE OUT, but provides some thought-provoking echoes and contrasts with its sequel in terms of adolescent emotions and the outward embodiments thereof, journeys of self discovery — for a teenage protagonist as well as the nurturing presence who cares for them — and the symbolic potential of pretty glowing things. Then we make a hard pivot for Your Next Picture Show to discuss the appeal of Richard Linklater’s new HIT MAN and how it translates between the big and small screens.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BRAVE, INSIDE OUT 2, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Annie Baker’s JANET PLANET and Lukas Moodysson’s TOGETHER

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#431: Pixar's Girl Story, Pt. 1 — Brave Jun 25, 2024

INSIDE OUT 2 is quite literally built around the emotional experience of being a young girl, but it wasn’t too long ago that this was uncharted territory for Pixar. That’s why rather than comparing the animation studio’s latest sequel to the original, we’re reaching a little further back in the filmography to revisit its first attempt to tell a story about a teenager trying to define her own identity: 2012's BRAVE. Representing some big firsts for Pixar, BRAVE had a fair amount of baggage and expectations when it hit theaters, all of which still linger in our conversation about a film we enjoy, with no shortage of qualities to recommend it, that nonetheless still feels like it’s struggling to reach its full potential.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BRAVE, INSIDE OUT 2, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#430: Road Warriors, Pt. 2: Furiosa Jun 18, 2024

The new FURIOSA functions as both a prequel and a sequel within the larger mythology of the MAD MAX franchise, and we’re looking at it from both of those angles this week. First, we talk over why George Miller’s latest might have flopped at the box office (prequel fatigue) and why it feels poised to overcome that reputation in due time (it is the rare good prequel). Then we zoom out to bring 1979’s original MAX MAX back into the picture and consider this franchise’s ongoing interest in themes of hope, despair, grief, and revenge, and how those themes shift when presented through a feminine perspective versus a masculine one. And in Your Next Picture Show, we use this opportunity to sing the praises of a lesser-known Miller work with much less vehicular mayhem and a much more overt presentation of hope in the face of despair.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MAD MAX, FURIOSA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Pixar’s INSIDE OUT 2 and BRAVE

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#429: Road Warriors, Pt. 1: Mad Max (1979) Jun 11, 2024

There’s a lot of narrative road between 1979’s MAD MAX and the new FURIOSA, but in pursuing George Miller’s decades-spanning franchise back to its starting line, we uncover a lot about what fuels this saga beyond the big, loud cars. For example, there are also big, loud motorcycles. But more importantly, there’s a healthy skepticism toward revenge as motivation, an interest in messianic leaders and hyper-verbal antagonists, and an efficient approach to world-building that prizes the visceral feel of a crumbling society over the logistical details thereof. All of that, plus the symbolic richness of this bleak motorized world, come up as we look under the hood of a film that’s quite different from what the MAD MAX saga is today, but no less driven by Miller’s singular vision. And in Feedback, we respond to a much-appreciated listener correction about THE FALL GUY and a similarly appreciated response to a prompt from our DONNIE DARKO episode.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MAD MAX, FURIOSA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#428: Teenage Dreams, Pt. 2 — I Saw the TV Glow Jun 04, 2024

Jane Schoenburn’s I SAW THE TV GLOW is a film whose cultural reference points tend to take the form of vibes more than direct nods. But the writer-director's stated inspiration point in DONNIE DARKO can be seen on both the surface — the recent-past suburban setting, the teenage outcasts struggling to relate to the world around them — and on a deeper level in the protagonists’ slippery grips on reality and their own identity. In the case of I SAW THE TV GLOW, that takes the shape of a trans narrative, the apparentness and relatability of which we discuss with the help of our special guest Emily St. James, before putting these two films side by side to consider their respective takes on teenage alienation, TV as a drug, and secondary realities that no one else can see. And in Your Next Picture Show we recommend a book trilogy that offers a different but complementary spin on media obsession.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DONNIE DARKO, I SAW THE TV GLOW, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: George Miller’s FURIOSA and MAD MAX

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#427: Teenage Dreams, Pt. 1 — Donnie Darko May 28, 2024

The horror-inflected suburban setting of the new I SAW THE TV GLOW — not to mention writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s own comments on their inspiration — put us in mind of Richard Kelly’s 2001 cult classic DONNIE DARKO, which also follows a teen protagonist struggling to maintain their grip on reality. We’re joined once again by writer, critic, and friend of the show Emily St. James to discuss how our relationships to both that teen protagonist and the movie named for him have shifted over the years, the film’s prescient religious and political undertones and the intentionality thereof, and why so many of its mysteries remain more compelling without clear answers. And in Feedback, we travel back a few episodes to revisit both a scene from Alex Garland’s CIVIL WAR and the discourse it provoked.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about DONNIE DARKO, I SAW THE TV GLOW, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#426: Playing the Hits, Pt. 2 — The Fall Guy May 21, 2024

Like the first film in this pairing, Richard Rush’s 1980 oddity THE STUNT MAN, David Leitch’s new THE FALL GUY utilizes the chaos of a film set as the cover for a crime, not to mention the inspiration for both romance and comedy. THE FALL GUY is a bit more straightforward in its crowd-pleasing intentions, though, to both its benefit and detriment, which we talk through in sharing our reactions to the new film. Then we bring THE STUNT MAN back in to compare its overlapping but distinct ideas about stunt performers who inspire their directors, get romantically involved with their co-workers, and confront their own deaths as a matter of course. And in Your Next Picture Show we offer another pairing of films that have nothing to do with this week’s movies, but which we are nonetheless excited to recommend.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE STUNT MAN, THE FALL GUY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Jane Schoenbrunn’s I SAW THE TV GLOW and Richard Kelly’s DONNIE DARKO

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#425: Playing the Hits, Pt. 1 — The Stunt Man May 14, 2024

While there are countless movies featuring the work of stunt performers, movies that center the experiences of those performers are much more rare, which is part of what motivated former stunt performer David Leitch to make the new THE FALL GUY. One of the standouts on that short list is Richard Rush’s 1980 genre oddity THE STUNT MAN, which uses the experience of its accidental-stuntie protagonist to blur the lines between post-Vietnam reality and moviemaking fantasy in fascinating, sometimes confounding ways. We talk through our interpretations of what it means and whether it works, and come to the conclusion that even when it doesn’t, Peter O’Toole’s performance as a diabolical director manages to hold it all together. Then in Feedback, our recent CHALLENGERS episode inspires a couple of listeners to share their alternate pairing ideas.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE STUNT MAN, THE FALL GUY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#424: Mixed Doubles, Pt. 2 — Challengers May 07, 2024

Justin Kuritzkes, who wrote the screenplay for Luca Guadagnino’s new CHALLENGERS, cites Alfonso Cuarón's coming-of-age classic Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN as a longtime favorite, so it’s unsurprising to see that film’s DNA in this one. CHALLENGERS is far from a remake, though, operating in a very different milieu with very different narrative priorities, both which we discuss along with our generally-positive-to-rapturous reactions to it. Then in Connections we press these two movies’ faces together and make them kiss for our own gratification, and come away from the experience surprised by just how much they share without being much alike at all. And in Your Next Picture Show we consider another, more recent Cuarón film in the context of Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN, CHALLENGERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: David Leitch’s THE FALL GUY and Richard Rush’s THE STUNT MAN

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#423: Mixed Doubles, Pt. 1 — Y Tu Mamá También Apr 30, 2024

The new CHALLENGERS is a sports drama the same way Alfonso Cuarón’s Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN is a road movie: secondarily, as both films tend to be associated first with their respective sexy love triangles, each with a woman at its center. That shared character dynamic results in a lot of connections between the two films, which we’ll cover in the next episode, but this week we’re focusing on all the other elements that distinguish Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN, from the way its narration forces us to consider the bigger picture that’s ignored by our young protagonists, to an ending revelation that recontextualizes (or, for one of our panelists, undermines) everything that comes before. And in Feedback, we take up a spoiler-filled question about the ending and viewer reception of CIVIL WAR.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about Y TU MAMÁ TAMBIÉN, CHALLENGERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#422: Alex Garland's Catastrophic Visions, Pt. 2 — Civil War Apr 23, 2024

The strain of cynicism that characterizes so much of Alex Garland’s filmography is at its most pronounced in his latest, CIVIL WAR. But paired with Garland’s 2002 debut as a screenwriter, Danny Boyle’s 28 DAYS LATER, an interesting counterpoint emerges in their shared acknowledgement, even hope, that humanity could perhaps find a path forward through catastrophe. So after spending some time wallowing in the muck of CIVIL WAR’s muddy politics and unsettling violence, we examine that mutual glimmer of hope in Connections, as well as the similar back-and-forth rhythms and character parallels of these two road movies. And in Your Next Picture Show we recommend the sequel that provides a different filmmaker’s answer to that question of where humanity goes next, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s 28 WEEKS LATER.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about 28 DAYS LATER, CIVIL WAR, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Luca Guadagnino’s CHALLENGERS and Alfonso Cuarón’s Y TU MAMA TAMBIÉN

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#421: Alex Garland's Catastrophic Visions, Pt. 1 — 28 Days Later Apr 16, 2024

The new CIVIL WAR is the latest in a line of speculative scenarios that Alex Garland has pondered over the course of his career as a novelist-turned-filmmaker, but its journey through a country transformed by violent catastrophe is most reminiscent of his first project as a screenwriter, Danny Boyle’s zombie-adjacent horror film 28 DAYS LATER. So before digging into Garland’s vision of an apocalyptic near-future United States, we’re revisiting his vision of the apocalyptic England of 2002 to consider the challenges of carving an ending (happy or otherwise) out of such a grim “what if,” and how our collective understanding of zombies (fast or otherwise) is both reflected in and shaped by 28 DAYS LATER’s infected. And in Feedback, we reckon with another speculative scenario, one in which our recent episode on Radu Jude’s latest was part of a different pairing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about 28 DAYS LATER, CIVIL WAR, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#420: Final Cuts, Pt. 2 — Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World Apr 09, 2024

What does a powerless gofer in 2020s Romania have in common with a powerful studio executive in 1990s Hollywood? Radu Jude’s new DO NOT EXPECT TO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD may concern a very different type of moviemaking than that in Robert Altman’s satire THE PLAYER, but it takes a similarly cynical — and humorous — stance on the compromises involved in commercialized art. That’s the main connection that inspired returning guest Katie Rife to suggest this pairing to us, but there’s much more about Jude’s film to get into first, from its focus on quotidian details to its various nods to Romanian art and culture. After that, we dive into these two films’ complementary takes on capitalism, commodification, and cameos, and in Your Next Picture show offer a trio of otherwise-unrelated films with ties to this pairing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE PLAYER, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Alex Garland’s CIVIL WAR and Danny Boyle’s 28 DAYS LATER

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#419: Final Cuts, Pt. 1 — The Player Apr 02, 2024

Romanian director Radu Jude’s new DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD is set in Bucharest, not Hollywood, but its cynicism about the act of capturing something on film nonetheless put us in mind of Robert Altman’s 1992 industry satire THE PLAYER. We’re joined by returning guest Katie Rife to discuss these two very different yet complementary movies about moviemaking, beginning with THE PLAYER’s caustically meta take on the Hollywood grind during a transitional moment for studio filmmaking. And we stay on theme moving into Feedback, bringing the film’s cynical outlook on Hollywood to a listener's question about the very existence of movie remakes.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE PLAYER, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#418: Crimes of Passion, Pt. 2 — Love Lies Bleeding Mar 26, 2024

Like the Wachowskis’ BOUND before it, Rose Glass’ new lesbian crime thriller LOVE LIES BLEEDING is playing with the tropes of noir and pulp, but it is also very much a love story between women who are trapped by their pasts and see in each other a way out. This week we’re joined once again by writer and friend of the show Emily St. James to talk through the unique, memorable way in which LOVE LIES BLEEDING balances those elements and tones, before bringing BOUND back into the discussion to consider the parallels between these two narratives’ respective interest in bodies and gender performance, trust and transactional sex, and finding escape in another person. And in Your Next Picture Show we enthusiastically recommend Glass’ debut feature SAINT MAUD as the bellwether of a filmmaker who’s proven herself one to watch.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BOUND, LOVE LIES BLEEDING, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Radu Jude’s DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD and Robert Altman’s THE PLAYER.

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#417: Crimes of Passion, Pt. 1 — Bound Mar 19, 2024

Rose Glass’ new lesbian crime thriller LOVE LIES BLEEDING takes the neo-noir in a bold and unexpected direction, one that the Wachowskis first pointed the genre toward in 1996 with BOUND. While the sisters’ stylish debut first premiered amid a wave of “sexy thrillers,” it exists today in a significantly different context. We get into that shift this week with the help of returning guest Emily St. James, to discuss how BOUND subverts, even transcends, viewer expectations of noir, gender roles, and hot lesbian sex. And then we take a break from Feedback to continue the conversation about revisiting classics in a contemporary context, in a talk with Emily about her upcoming book, LOST: BACK TO THE ISLAND.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BOUND, LOVE LIES BLEEDING, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email or voice memo to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#416: Ethan Coen Co-Capers, Pt. 2 — Drive-Away Dolls Mar 12, 2024

Is box-office disappointment DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS destined for the sort of belated appreciation eventually received by the Coen Brothers’ sophomore feature, 1987’s RAISING ARIZONA? That’s up for debate in our discussion of Ethan Coen’s latest comedy collaboration, this time with his wife Tricia Cooke, a crime caper in theory that acts more like a sex romp in practice. Nonetheless, we consider how certain Coen crime signatures — ill-considered schemes executed by duos who are the opposite of pros, one of whom is comedically verbose — play out in both films, as well as how the films’ respective MacGuffins function as comedic objects. And in Your Next Picture Show we offer an alternate-universe version of this pairing built around the recent French release THE TASTE OF THINGS.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about RAISING ARIZONA, DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Rose Glass’ LOVE LIES BLEEDING and The Wachowskis’ BOUND

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#415: Ethan Coen Co-Capers, Pt. 1 — Raising Arizona Mar 05, 2024

While DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS is technically the first narrative feature for which Ethan Coen has taken a solo directing credit, in practice the new comedy is as much a collaboration, here with his wife and co-screenwriter Tricia Cooke, as the films he made with brother Joel before their current hiatus. So in honor of Coen’s commitment to collaborative comedy, we’re revisiting 1987’s RAISING ARIZONA, the film that established the brothers’ comedic voice following their neo-noir debut BLOOD SIMPLE, and whose madcap escapades and MacGuffin-chasing foreshadow Coen’s latest cinematic caper. And in feedback, a returning favorite offers up a connection we missed in our recent pairing of THE LAST DETAIL and THE HOLDOVERS.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about RAISING ARIZONA, DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#414: Beach Bummers, Pt. 2 — How to Have Sex Feb 27, 2024

Molly Manning Walker’s debut feature HOW TO HAVE SEX takes place more than six decades after 1960’s WHERE THE BOYS ARE, but as our discussion of the two films illuminates, frustratingly little has changed in that time when it comes to the blurred lines around consent, particularly in situations involving teenagers, alcohol, and social pressure around sex. We’re joined once again by Marya E. Gates to discuss HOW TO HAVE SEX’s deft navigation of that context before bringing WHERE THE BOYS ARE back in to discuss what has and hasn’t changed about the desires and dangers of being a student on unchaperoned holiday. And in Your Next Picture Show, we offer up a film that could form a triple feature with this week’s pairing, Céline Sciama’s GIRLHOOD.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHERE THE BOYS ARE, HOW TO HAVE SEX, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Ethan Coen’s DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS and the Coen Brothers’ RAISING ARIZONA

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#413: Beach Bummers, Pt. 1 — Where the Boys Are (1960) Feb 20, 2024

The new British coming-of-age film HOW TO HAVE SEX follows a group of girlfriends on a post-exam holiday into an environment where peer pressure, alcohol, and coercion can erode the boundaries of consent. But these problems aren’t unique to the film’s contemporary setting, as we’ll see in this week’s companion film, the seemingly frivolous 1960 spring break romp WHERE THE BOYS ARE. Special guest Marya Gates brings us some historical context about the film’s place in the continuum of “beach party” movies, and the degree to which audiences still a few years out from the sexual revolution would be receptive to the film’s relative frankness about sex. And in Feedback we continue the debate about the usefulness of film ratings, and respond to the charge that a recent pairing was our worst-ever choice of new film.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WHERE THE BOYS ARE, HOW TO HAVE SEX, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#412: Road Trip Trios, Pt. 1 — The Holdovers Feb 13, 2024

A road trip through a chilly New England winter represents only one section of Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS, but the film’s overlap with Hal Ashby’s THE LAST DETAIL goes beyond that narrative echo. As in Ashby’s 1973 film, one of the examples of 1970s cinema Payne drew on for the look and feel of THE HOLDOVERS, a central triumvirate of two adults and their younger charge have a funny but imperfect bonding experience that avoids simplistic found-family conclusions. We talk through the ways THE HOLDOVERS finds nuance in its different permutations of that trio before turning back to THE LAST DETAIL to compare these films’ versions of “showing the kid a good time” in spite of bitter cold and absent parents. And in Your Next Picture Show we stick up for LAST FLAG FLYING, Richard Linklater’s little-loved “spiritual sequel” to THE LAST DETAIL.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE LAST DETAIL, THE HOLDOVERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Molly Manning Walker’s HOW TO HAVE SEX and Henry Levin’s WHERE THE BOYS ARE

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#411: Road Trip Trios, Pt. 1 — The Last Detail Feb 06, 2024

Alexander Payne has cited Hal Ashby’s THE LAST DETAIL as one of several 1970s movies informing the look and feel of THE HOLDOVERS, but there’s narrative resonance there as well, particularly in the films’ central threesomes: two disaffected older adults and their troubled teenage charge, each navigating a chilly East Coast winter, a road trip, and a series of disappointments and discoveries. We begin this week by focusing on THE LAST DETAIL’s trio of military-prison-bound sailors: what defines and distinguishes each of them, how their relationships change over the course of the movie, and whether the lack of resolution the film provides them is a feature or a bug. And in Feedback we respond to some alternate readings of a couple of our other favorite films of last year, BARBIE and MAY DECEMBER.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE LAST DETAIL, THE HOLDOVERS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#410: Hunting Games, Pt. 2 — Self Reliance Jan 30, 2024

We return to the arena of comedic deathsport via Jake Johnson’s new debut as a writer-director, SELF RELIANCE. Despite a high-concept premise, it’s a film that seems most comfortable in the realm of hangout-slash-romantic comedy, but is that a satisfying approach when dealing with an ostensible story of life and death? That’s up for debate in our discussion of the film, which extends into Connections when we bring Elio Petri’s 1965 cult oddity THE 10TH VICTIM back into the conversation to compare these two films’ bloodless approach to gamified murder. And in Your Next Picture Show we offer up a recommendation for a real-life televised murder game in which no blood gets spilled and Alan Cumming is having the time of his life.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE 10TH VICTIM, SELF RELIANCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS and Hal Ashby’s THE LAST DETAIL.

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#409: Hunting Games, Pt. 1 — The 10th Victim Jan 23, 2024

Jake Johnson’s new directorial debut SELF RELIANCE draws from a deep well of “Most Dangerous Game” storytelling, but its interest in murder-for-sport as televised entertainment combined with its rom-com underpinnings put us most in mind of 1965 cult oddity THE 10TH VICTIM. Elio Petri’s film functions as a piece of pop art first, a satire second, and a romance a distant third, and this week we’re attempting to parse it on all three levels, when we’re not getting sidetracked by the many incidental details comprising this inconsistent, perhaps incoherent, but always interesting film. And in Feedback, a listener prompt about whether movie ratings are a net negative for film culture inspires us to do a little self-reflection, and institute a new (temporary) NPS ratings system.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE 10TH VICTIM, SELF RELIANCE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#408: Succession, Pt. 2 — The Iron Claw Jan 16, 2024

THE IRON CLAW is about a wrestling dynasty, not an organized-crime one, but Sean Durkin’s new biopic makes the family business seem just as dangerous as the one at the heart of Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER. We’re joined once again by guest and wrestling aficionado Siddhant Adlakha to talk through THE IRON CLAW’s approach to said family business and the trauma it inflicts on both its characters and viewers. Then we bring THE GODFATHER back into the conversation to compare how these two family businesses and their respective succession drama are shaped by the American Dream, toxic masculinity, and the women on the sidelines. And then we keep it in the ring with some Your Next Picture Show suggestions for some complementary IRON CLAW viewing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE GODFATHER, THE IRON CLAW, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Elio Petri’s THE 10TH VICTIM and Jake Johnson’s SELF RELIANCE

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#407: Succession, Pt. 1 — The Godfather Jan 09, 2024

A dangerous family business, an imposing, aging patriarch, and a group of brothers with varying aptitudes vying to succeed him: Sean Durkin’s wrestling-family biopic THE IRON CLAW and Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 mafia epic THE GODFATHER chart a very similar narrative within two very different worlds. Will THE IRON CLAW also shape how we talk and think about other wrestling films for decades to come? That remains to be seen, but this week we’re joined by freelance film critic Siddhant Adlakha to mull THE GODFATHER’s impact on the gangster movie as we know it, consider which set pieces and characters take on new shading in repeat viewings, and unpack the Corleone family dynamics that lie at the heart of this pairing. Plus, we’re keeping the 2023 film conversation going with a listener recommendation for an underseen favorite from last year.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about THE GODFATHER, THE IRON CLAW, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#406: Our Top 10 Films of 2023 Jan 02, 2024

2023 was an idiosyncratic yet satisfying year for movies and the audiences who watch them, as reflected in the combination of across-the-board crowd-pleasers and one-off favorites comprising our Top 10 lists of the year’s best films. As per tradition, Tasha, Scott, and Keith convened to compare their respective lists and examine the points where they converge and diverge, and celebrate the high points of another year that supports the idea that every year is a good one for movies.

Please share your thoughts about and own picks for the best movies of 2023, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next pairing: Sean Durkin’s THE IRON CLAW and Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER

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#405: She's Alive! Pt. 2 — Poor Things Dec 27, 2023

Yorgos Lanthimos’ POOR THINGS is many things, among them a whimsical retelling of the story of Frankenstein’s monster as codified in James Whale’s iconic 1930s classics FRANKENSTEIN and BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN. But there’s a lot of other stuff animating POOR THINGS’ surface pleasures and just-below-the-surface ideas, which we parse before moving into Connections to compare these three films’ depictions of playing God and twisted parent-child relationships; mad science and the mad scientists who practice it; and stylized, unnatural versions of reality as perceived by stylized, unnatural creatures. And in Your Next Picture Show we give a brief nod to two other POOR THINGS pairing possibilities, Francois Truffaut’s THE WILD CHILD and Werner Herzog’s THE ENIGMA OF KASPAR HAUSER.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF, POOR THINGS or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#404: She's Alive! Pt. 1 — Frankenstein (1931) and Bride of Frankenstein (1935) Dec 19, 2023

Yorgos Lanthimos’s POOR THINGS is so open in its allusions to Frankenstein — both scientist and monster — that it inspired us to stitch together our first dual pairing, of James Whale’s 1931 classic, which established the on-screen language of Mary Shelley’s monster, and his 1935 follow-up THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, which set up nearly a century of expectations for sequels in Hollywood. But despite many commonalities, chief among them a literally iconic Boris Karloff performance, these films are two distinct creatures, so we’re dissecting them both to talk through their different tones, relationships to their source material, and legacies.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF, POOR THINGS or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#403: Miyazaki in Wonderland, Pt. 2 — The Boy and the Heron Dec 12, 2023

Like Chihiro in SPIRITED AWAY, the protagonist of Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, THE BOY AND THE HERON, is drawn into a fantastical world populated by strange creatures that help usher him through a coming-of-age journey — but Mahito is a very different protagonist, and his journey unfolds in a very different way. We’re joined once again by Vulture editor and animation expert Eric Vilas-Boas to unpack the imagery and ideas populating Miyazaki’s latest wonderland, and debate the animation auteur’s feelings about birds, before bringing SPIRITED AWAY back in to compare these films’ depictions of children and parents, villains and allies, and “weird little guys.” And in Your Next Picture Show, Eric offers a recommendation for another film that joins BOY AND THE HERON on his list of the year’s best animation for Vulture.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SPIRITED AWAY, THE BOY AND THE HERON, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Yorgos Lanthimos’s POOR THINGS and James Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN & BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

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#402: Miyazaki in Wonderland, Pt. 1 — Spirited Away Dec 05, 2023

Studio Ghibli's latest, THE BOY AND THE HERON, is unmistakably a Hayao Miyazaki creation, drawing multiple specific elements from the animator’s life and past work — most conspicuously 2001’s SPIRITED AWAY, another film in which a sad young person is whisked away to a wondrous-slash-terrifying realm filled with memorable creatures and its own dream logic. Before we venture into Miyazaki’s latest idiosyncratic, shifting world, we’re joined by Vulture editor and animation reporter Eric Vilas-Boas for a look back at what makes Miyazaki’s earlier adventures in the spirit realm simultaneously sticky and slippery, and what primed SPIRITED AWAY for crossover success. And in Feedback, we continue the discussion of how we’re meant to read KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON’s ambiguous ending.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SPIRITED AWAY, THE BOY AND THE HERON, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#401: Coppola's Queens, Pt. 2 — Priscilla Nov 21, 2023

As biopics go, the new PRISCILLA is decidedly less rambunctious than the 2006 provocation MARIE ANTOINETTE, but each of these intimate, sympathetic portraits of a woman who lived in a man’s shadow and under his control are unmistakable as the work of Sofia Coppola. This week we get into how our reactions to PRISCILLA — both positive and negative — were affected, even shaped, by its place in Coppola’s filmography, and whether the film’s compressed third act is a feature or a bug. Then we head into Connections, which is stacked with comparison points between the two films’ ideas about power and identity as expressed through fashion, sex, physical vulnerability, and inappropriate puppies. And in Your Next Picture Show, we give the spotlight to another film that’s currently in theaters and was in contention for this week’s pairing: Alexander Payne’s THE HOLDOVERS.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MARIE ANTOINETTE, PRISCILLA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#400: Coppola's Queens, Pt. 1 — Marie Antoinette Nov 15, 2023

Might the response that greeted MARIE ANTOINETTE in 2006 have been warmer if audiences at the time had the context of Sofia Coppola’s latest, PRISCILLA, which takes a similarly unconventional narrative and musical approach to a famous marriage? Both films are biopic-shaped containers for Coppola’s now-well-established thematic obsessions, with little interest in the details of history that fall outside that purview, making for one of the more direct one-to-one pairings we’ve done in some time. We kick it off this week with a discussion of the ways time has been kind to MARIE ANTOINETTE’s elision of history and narrowness of focus, how the anachronistic music and performances express the film’s rebellious spirit, and what exactly we’re meant to make of these bumbling teen royals. And in Feedback, a reader broaches another recent film for inclusion on our informal list of the best science-fiction of the 21st century, and in the process reopens our discussion of the many thematic nuances in AFTER YANG.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about MARIE ANTOINETTE, PRISCILLA, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#399: True West, Pt. 2 — Killers of the Flower Moon Nov 07, 2023

Martin Scorsese’s new KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and the 1950 Delmar Daves Western BROKEN ARROW are both films made by non-Native filmmakers seeking to confront stereotypes about Native Americans, but they are reflective of two distinct cultural moments separated by decades of change when it comes to representation in Hollywood storytelling. This week we spend some time wrestling with the characters, contradictions, and compartmentalization in FLOWER MOON before bringing BROKEN ARROW back in to see how attitudes have progressed when it comes to correcting the historical record and shaking viewers out of their assumptions, how the two films intersect and diverge in their depictions of white outsiders and cross-cultural marriages, and to what degree each embodies the limitations of Indigenous stories told from a non-Indigenous perspective. And for Your Next Picture Show we take a brief look at Michael Apted’s 1992 Sundance sensation INCIDENT AT OGLALA, another film we considered for this pairing that takes a documentary approach to a different true-life story of crime and culture clash on a Native American reservation.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about BROKEN ARROW, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Sophia Coppola’s PRISCILLA and MARIE ANTOINETTE

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#398: True West, Pt. 1 — Broken Arrow Oct 31, 2023

Martin Scorsese’s new Killers of the Flower Moon, based on David Grann’s horrifying non-fiction true-crime book, tracks systematic murder in a 1920s Osage tribe by a group of white men looking to secure the tribe’s profitable oil rights. Among the players are a couple, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, who appear to truly love each other while not entirely realizing they’re also in a predator-prey relationship. The interracial romance, racial tension, and struggle for survival pairs well with the 1950 Western Broken Arrow, also based on real historical events and real figures, and centering on a different interracial couple — Jimmy Stewart as a weary fortysomething veteran who begins brokering a peace between Arizona settlers and an Apache tribe, and Debra Paget in redface as a member of that tribe. This week we start our Western wandering with a look at Broken Arrow’s spot in history, as a first step toward Hollywood depicting Native Americans as multifaceted people instead of stock Western villains. We sort through the film’s pros and cons, including the specter of clumsy, careful message movies trying to counteract decades of stereotypes. And we discuss how stiff execution and the 25-year age difference between Stewart and Paget hinders what’s supposed to be a romance for the ages. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about Broken Arrow, Killers of the Flower Moon, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#397: Outback Outsiders, Pt. 2 — Royal Hotel Oct 24, 2023

Kitty Green’s new ROYAL HOTEL takes the rural Australian bar-culture setting of 1971’s WAKE IN FRIGHT and explores how placing two young women in the role of outsider changes the threat level. We start this week by parsing the film’s micro- and mega-aggressions, and whether those inflicting them are capital-B Bad men, or just regular men wrapped up in bad power dynamics. Then we bring WAKE IN FRIGHT back in to consider how both films are on some level about the intertwined desires for identity and acceptance, as well as alcohol’s deleterious effect on both.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WAKE IN FRIGHT, ROYAL HOTEL, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Martin Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON and Delmer Daves’ BROKEN ARROW

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#396: Outback Outsiders, Pt. 1 — Wake In Fright Oct 17, 2023

Kitty Green’s new THE ROYAL HOTEL follows two women stranded amid the oppressive masculinity of a rough-and-tumble Australian mining town, a purposeful gender subversion of Ted Kotcheff’s 1971 Australian cult classic WAKE IN FRIGHT. We begin our two-week journey through the fringes of civilization with a trip to WAKE IN FRIGHT’s “the Yabba” to discuss how the film’s more harrowing elements, including its infamous kangaroo hunt, play in a context of sheer lawlessness, debate whether it feels like a representative Australian film, and try to decipher the strange allure of “two up.” And in Feedback, we consider a couple of listener-submitted contenders for our informal and always-expanding list of the greatest sci-fi of the 21st century.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WAKE IN FRIGHT, THE ROYAL HOTEL, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#395: Alien Nation Pt. 2 — No One Will Save You Oct 10, 2023

It’s perhaps a bit unfair to compare the new NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU to UNDER THE SKIN, a film widely considered (by us) to be one of the best science-fiction films of the last 20 years, but at least one of our co-hosts was taken by Brian Duffield’s virtually dialogue-free story of a solitary woman fending off extraterrestrials. In the first half of this week’s episode, they get into it with the rest of our panel — joined once again by comedian Joe Kwaczala (“Funny Songs and Sketches”) — over the film and whether its divisive ending is a subversively dark conclusion or an arbitrary attempt to be shocking. Then we bring UNDER THE SKIN back in to compare how these two films fill the space between their minimal dialogue and the degree to which they let us into the headspace of two alienated women with opposing yet complementary motivations.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about UNDER THE SKIN, NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Kitty Green’s ROYAL HOTEL and Ted Kotcheff’s WAKE IN FRIGHT

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#394: Alien Nation, Pt. 1 — Under the Skin Oct 03, 2023

The new NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU follows a lonely, socially isolated woman through an alien invasion, a narrative it shares with UNDER THE SKIN, though in Jonathan Glazer’s 2013 instant classic, said woman also happens to be the invading alien. Both protagonists are enigmatic in their own way, and the films around them follow suit, with heightened tones and minimal dialogue providing two distinct takes on human nature through alien eyes. This week we plunge into the eerie depths of UNDER THE SKIN with the help of comedian and film fan Joe Kwaczala (@joekjoek), to talk through the dynamic of of Scarlett Johansson’s central performance against the array of non-actors embodying her victims, the subtle shifts in power that take place between them, and the enduring horror of that beach sequence. And in lieu of Feedback this week, we consider some of the other films that join UNDER THE SKIN in contention for the title of greatest science-fiction film of the 21st century.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about UNDER THE SKIN, NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#393: Larrain's Pinochet Pt. 2 — El Conde Sep 26, 2023

Pablo Larraín has approached the legacy of Augusto Pinochet from several angles over the course of his filmography, but never quite as directly as in his latest, EL CONDE. And yet even when casting the Chilean dictator as his protagonist, Larraín seems less interested in the real man — who, as far as we know, is not an undying vampire — than what he represents about power, manipulation, and history’s ongoing cycle thereof. We talk through our thoughts about how that plays out in EL CONDE, before bringing back Larraín’s NO, a film that approaches Pinochet with more historical fidelity and less overt cynicism, but a similar interest in political deceit, compromised resistances, and what it takes to strike back at a dictator. And in Your Next Picture Show we recommend a couple of new releases with ties to this week’s pairing: the Chilean documentary THE ETERNAL MEMORY and the Gael Garcia Bernal biopic CASSANDRO.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about NO, EL CONDE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Brian Duffield’s NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU and Jonathan Glazer’s UNDER THE SKIN

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#392: Larraín's Pinochet Pt. 1 — No (2012) Sep 19, 2023

Augusto Pinochet ruled Chile as a dictator for nearly 20 years and left behind a complicated legacy, one Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín has approached sideways in various ways over the course of his career. His new EL CONDE, which renders Pinochet a literal vampire, is a more fantastical expression of that approach than 2012’s NO, a behind-the-scenes dramatization of the marketing campaign that helped end Pinochet’s rule, but both films are rich with complications of trust, hope, and public opinion. We unpack some of those complications in this week’s dive into NO, as well as how the film’s 1980s-broadcast-news visual aesthetic and thinly characterized protagonist work for and against its primary focus, and where it ultimately falls on the cynicism-to-optimism spectrum. And in Feedback, a listener attempts to make sense of the MCU’s vision of the afterlife, only to leave us even more confused.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about NO, EL CONDE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#391: Clique, Clique, Boom Pt. 2 — Bottoms Sep 05, 2023

HEATHERS is just one of many reference points at work in Emma Seligman’s new BOTTOMS, but the two films taken together illustrate just how differently the “dark comedy” designation can be applied to high-school movies. So after searching for meaning in BOTTOMS, and coming to terms with the idea that meaninglessness may actually be its point, we compare how these two expressions of high-school hierarchies under attack function as dark comedy, how they put familiar tropes about cliques and clueless adults to different ends, and how one of them defuses a bomb the other is willing to set off. And in Your Next Picture Show, we add a third explosive high-school rebellion to the mix, with a recommendation for 1979’s ROCK ’N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about HEATHERS, BOTTOMS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing (dropping 9/19/23 and 9/26/23) Pablo Larraín’s EL CONDE and NO

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#390: Clique, Clique, Boom Pt. 1 — Heathers Aug 29, 2023

Almost immediately after BOTTOMS premiered at this year’s SXSW, the heightened mix of satire and violence in Emma Seligman’s new film drew comparisons to Michael Lehmann’s HEATHERS, which in 1989 set a new high-water mark for upending the high-school movie tropes of the day through a darkly comedic lens. How does a movie that turns teenage suicide (don’t do it) into a punchline fare by today’s standards? That’s up for discussion in this half of our pairing, along with how HEATHERS executes its tricky tonal balance, its characterization of the high school experience and the parents and teachers who just don’t understand, and an ending that’s either a cop-out or the complete opposite, depending on who you ask and when. And in a Feedback letter inspired by our recent episode on ENCHANTED, a listener challenges us to name some recent films that could become “flawed pioneers,” without the benefit of hindsight.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about HEATHERS, BOTTOMS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#389: Throupling, Pt. 2 — Passages Aug 22, 2023

Ira Sachs’ new PASSAGES centers on a relationship broadly similar to the one at the center of SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, but approaches it with a different level of intimacy and intensity (one that earned it an NC-17 rating before the filmmakers opted to release it unrated). We’re joined once again by freelance critic and friend of the show Noel Murray to talk through the different points of characterization and performance on PASSAGES’ love triangle, before looking at how the two films compare and contrast in their critiques of hetero-monogamous normativity, their ideas about suppressed jealousy and art, and their frank, arguably “graphic” depictions of homosexual desire. And in Your Next Picture Show, we offer a mini-revisitation of another John Schlesinger film that is impossible to avoid when considering this pairing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, PASSAGES, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Emma Seligman’s BOTTOMS and Michael Lehmann’s HEATHERS

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#388: Throupling, Pt. 1 — Sunday Bloody Sunday Aug 15, 2023

Ira Sachs’ new PASSAGES is treading ground that was broken in part by John Schlesinger’s 1971 British drama SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, which also concerns the tortured intimacies of an MMF love triangle, albeit with a bit more reserve. We’re joined by freelance critic and friend of the show Noel Murray to talk over our responses to that reserved approach in relation to SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY as a product of its era and as a counterpoint to Schlesinger’s previous film, MIDNIGHT COWBOY; how this portrayal of a love triangle balances desperation and dignity; and whether this movie actively hates kids, or if the Hodson children serve a greater thematic purpose. Then we reopen the BARBIE discussion with the help of a couple of listener comments in Feedback.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY, PASSAGES, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#387: Fantasy Women, Pt. 2 — Barbie Aug 08, 2023

Did ENCHANTED walk so that BARBIE could fly? Or is Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster, which has us wondering if it might actually change the world, operating on a satiric level the 2007 Disney-princess pastiche could only dream of? Our panel, joined once again by Vulture/New York Magazine critic Jen Chaney, is divided on that point, but in agreement that BARBIE gives us much more to discuss in its nuanced, subversive gender critique. After talking through our responses to the world and worldviews of Barbie, Ken, and most importantly Allan, we bring ENCHANTED back into the discussion to see how it stacks up to its successor in its big musical production numbers, fish-out-of-water comedy, and ability to create an “authentically artificial” world. Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ENCHANTED, BARBIE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Ira Sachs’ PASSAGES with John Schlesinger’s SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY

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#386: Fantasy Women, Pt. 1 — Enchanted Aug 01, 2023

Greta Gerwig’s mega-hit BARBIE is both a satirical sendup of and a loving tribute to the titular fashion doll, which is a not-unheard-of storytelling approach, though few stories attempting to strike the balance have done so with such direct involvement of the corporate entity responsible for their existence. That element of Mattel’s BARBIE is what led us to Disney’s ENCHANTED, Kevin Lima’s 2007 live-action fractured fairy tale that prods at Disney Princess tropes without quite upending them. This week we’re joined by Vulture critic Jen Chaney to consider what’s made the comparatively slight ENCHANTED such a touchstone for some viewers, the areas where its gentle subversion works and where it falters, whether there’s anything redeeming in the film’s messy final act, and, naturally, what Abel Ferrara’s ENCHANTED might look like. And we continue the trope talk in Feedback, inspired by a listener’s response to a certain GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 gag.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ENCHANTED, BARBIE, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#385: Play Time, Pt. 2 — Theater Camp Jul 25, 2023

Like its obvious predecessor WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, the new THEATER CAMP is an improv-heavy mockumentary about a cash-strapped theatrical operation — but in this case at least there’s real talent in the mix, thanks to the many gifted child actors populating the AdirondACTS summer program for aspiring young performers. This leaves THEATER CAMP’s adult cast, some of them former child actors themselves, free to lean into self-satirizing buffoonery while maintaining a degree of sincere admiration for theatrical weirdos everywhere. We dig into the ups and downs of that tonal balance in THEATER CAMP before comparing it to GUFFMAN’s own blend of affection and condescension toward amateur theater, the people who make it, and the audiences who respond to it, as well as how the mockumentary style has evolved in the years separating the two films. And in Your Next Picture Show, we use the presence of Molly Gordon and Ayo Edebiri in THEATER CAMP as an excuse for a mini bonus episode on a recent season of TV that also features both: THE BEAR.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, THEATER CAMP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Greta Gerwig’s BARBIE with Kevin Lima’s ENCHANTED

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#384: Play Time, Pt. 1 — Waiting For Guffman Jul 18, 2023

The new Sundance favorite THEATER CAMP, which uses the mockumentary format to lovingly skewer amateurs pursuing their theatrical dreams, is clear in its homage to WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, a comedy whose own skewering of wannabe actor types is somewhat less loving. Our revisitation of Christopher Guest’s 1996 film considers GUFFMAN’s tricky tonal balance of satire and sincerity, along with the benefits and limitations of both its mockumentary format and improvisation-based filming style, and whether we should read condescension or admiration into Guest’s portrayal of Corky St. Clair and the small town that adores him. And in Feedback we tackle a reading of ASTEROID CITY that we hadn’t considered, courtesy of an astute listener.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, THEATER CAMP, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#383: Separate Ways, Pt. 2 — Past Lives Jul 11, 2023

Celine Song’s new slow-burn drama PAST LIVES is an unrequited-love story in the same way John Carney’s slow-burn musical drama ONCE is — that is, just on the surface. But each film’s central would-be romance is a delivery device for deeper ideas about the weight of carrying nostalgia for past relationships and always wondering “what if?”. We’re joined once again by David Chen of DecodingEverthing.com to talk through PAST LIVES and how it functions as a different kind of immigration narrative, and the way it connects to ONCE in its depiction of sublimated longing, creative pursuits, and the language barriers that both unite and divide. And in Your Next Picture Show we take a brief look back through the many, many unrequited-love stories we’ve covered on this podcast over the years.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ONCE, PAST LIVES, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman’s THEATER CAMP and Christopher Guest’s WAITING FOR GUFFMAN.

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#382: Separate Ways, Pt. 1: Once Jul 04, 2023

Celine Song’s feature directorial debut PAST LIVESfollows two not-quite lovers through different points in their lives as they figure out how to move past the possibility of romance, a story of low-key longing and bad timing that reminded us of the serendipitous musical relationship at the heart of John Carney’s 2007 arthouse hit ONCE. So before taking up the multiple timelines of PAST LIVES, we’re joined this week by David Chen of Decoding Everything to dig into ONCE’s single, transient moment of musical and romantic connection, characters who express themselves best (and maybe only) through music, and how the film’s DIY, of-the-moment style reflects both its demo-tape narrative and a singular transitional moment in digital filmmaking. Plus, a Feedback letter asking us to go deeper into Wes Anderson’s ASTEROID CITY sends us down a rabbit hole.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ONCE, PAST LIVES, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#381: Heavy Meta, Pt. 2 — Asteroid City Jun 27, 2023

As filmmakers, Wes Anderson and Charlie Kaufman have distinct styles without a lot of obvious overlap, but Anderson’s new ASTEROID CITY and Kaufman’s 2008 directorial debut SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK share a central concern — the struggle to create art — that invites a degree of self-awareness and metatextuality that plays well with both of those distinct styles. So after attempting to pull apart the layers of ASTEROID CITY’s play-within-a-play-within-a-TV-production-within-a-movie, we return to SYNECDOCHE to compare the different ends to which these filmmakers apply their respective meta moves, the ways they deploy their sprawling ideas and even more sprawling casts, and how each navigates the overlapping worlds of theater and film. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we share a few thoughts on another film we considered for this week’s pairing.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, ASTEROID CITY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: John Carney’s ONCE and Celine Song’s PAST LIVES

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#380: Heavy Meta, Pt. 1 — Synecdoche, New York Jun 20, 2023

Wes Anderson’s new ASTEROID CITY is a self-aware film about making art from a director of exacting control, which put us in mind of Charlie Kaufman’s 2008 directorial debut, SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, a self-aware film about making art from a director of exacting chaos. Kaufman is one of our most-discussed filmmakers on this podcast, as both a writer and a director, but that doesn’t make parsing the immersive, shapeless, bleak SYNECDOCHE any easier. But we do our best to track Kaufman’s various obsessions through the film’s unconventional structure, and even attempt to unearth some moments of (arguable) levity along the way. Then the meta hijinks continue in Feedback, when a special guest calls in to put our hosts on the spot when it comes to their position on Charlie Kaufman, director.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, ASTEROID CITY, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#379: Film Criticism, Pt. 2 — You Hurt My Feelings Jun 13, 2023

Nicole Holofcener’s new YOU HURT MY FEELINGS finds its characters grappling with many of the same issues as those in 2001’s LOVELY & AMAZING, but with a couple more decades of personal growth informing how they let outside criticism inform their own self-worth. It’s a more mature, less prickly film, and whether that’s an asset or a liability is up for debate in our discussion of YOU HURT MY FEELINGS, along with how acceptable it is to share an ice cream cone with your significant other in public. Then we look at the two films side by side to see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same when it comes to Holofcener’s ideas about soliciting and rejecting criticism, professional flailing, and the intersection of validation and vanity. And in Your Next Picture Show, we offer up another recent Holofcener to keep the conversation going.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about LOVELY & AMAZING, YOU HURT MY FEELINGS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Charlie Kaufman’s SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK and Wes Anderson’s ASTEROID CITY

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#378: Film Criticism, Pt. 1 — Lovely & Amazing Jun 06, 2023

Indie writer-director Nicole Holofcener’s observational comedies eschew high-concept hooks in favor of burrowing deeply into a theme from many different angles. Her new YOU HURT MY FEELINGS spells out its intersecting thematic interests right there in the title — criticism, insecurity, and the need for validation — and reminded us of the multigenerational study in low self-esteem that is LOVELY & AMAZING. So we’re revisiting Holofcener’s prickly 2001 film to consider the many ways in which the Marks women, played by Brenda Blethyn, Catherine Keener, Emily Mortimer, and Raven Goodwin, reinforce each other’s insecurities, and how Holofcener coaxes such light comedy out of such weighty themes. And in Feedback, a listener brings up a missing piece from our recent discussion of ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about LOVELY & AMAZING, YOU HURT MY FEELINGS, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#377: Rocket Manimal, Pt. 2 — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 May 30, 2023

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 director James Gunn has been open about the various reference points dotting his final entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but none are as extended or explicit as the one informing the film’s primary antagonist and his history with Bradley Cooper’s Rocket, which draws directly from H.G. Wells’ deranged scientist Dr. Moreau and by extension 1932’s ISLAND OF LOST SOULS. Rocket’s backstory forms the spine of GUARDIANS 3, but as this is an ensemble story with plenty of established lore and character relationships, we spend some time unpacking our reactions to the non-Rocket parts of the film, including the Guardians’ current dynamic, that hallway fight, and a closing dance sequence that managed to breach our long-held defenses against closing dance sequences. Then we dig into how it converges with, and diverges from, ISLAND’s ideas about cruelty to animals, charismatic madmen with selfish goals and noble pretensions, and the scientific search for perfection. Then in Your Next Picture Show, we highlight another of GUARDIANS’ obvious reference points, this one inside the pages of a comic that has nothing to do with the MCU and everything to do with cute animals strapped with big ol’ guns.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Nicole Holofcener’s LOVELY & AMAZING and YOU HURT MY FEELINGS

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#376: Rocket Manimal, Pt. 1 — Island of Lost Souls (1932) May 23, 2023

James Gunn’s new closing entry in his GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY trilogy for Marvel revolves around a tragic backstory for Rocket-don’t-say-Racoon that draws from a history of creation-vs.-creator narratives that stretches back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. But Gunn himself has cited the cruel experimentations of H.G. Wells’ Doctor Moreau, and specifically the 1932 film adaptation ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, as the reference point for Rocket’s journey. So we traveled through the fog of time to explore Erle C. Kenton’s depiction of Moreau’s island, where the animal-man makeup effects and Charles Laughton’s unique take on the mad scientist take center stage. Plus, a listener request for commentary track recommendations invites a slew of suggestions from our resident enthusiast.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOLUME 3, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#375: Pre-Teen Sensations, Pt. 2—Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. May 16, 2023

Kelly Fremon Craig’s winning new adaptation of Judy Blume’s ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET is as gentle and good-natured as the other film in this pairing, Todd Solondz’s WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, is acerbic and off-putting. But both films are frank in their own way about a stage of life that cinema often ignores, so after talking through MARGARET’s warm and welcoming 1970s vision of suburban New Jersey adolescence, we bring DOLLHOUSE’s grim and grungy 1990s depiction into the discussion to compare the films’ respective takes on puberty, peer pressure, crushes, and bullying.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Erle C. Kenton’s ISLAND OF LOST SOULS and James Gunn’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3

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#374: Pre-Teen Sensations, Pt. 1 — Welcome to the Dollhouse May 09, 2023

Inspired by the new adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic coming-of-age novel ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET, we’re beginning this pairing by looking back at another rocky journey through adolescence in the New Jersey suburbs — though Dawn Wiener’s journey in Tom Solondz’s 1995 indie WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE is considerably rockier. Where MARGARET is gentle and warm, DOLLHOUSE is as prickly as its protagonist, and unsparing in the way it mines dark comedy by stacking the decks against her at every turn. Whether that comedy is worth the accompanying discomfort is a topic of discussion this week, along with the film’s left-field ending move and Solondz’s continuing adventures in the cinematic Wienerverse. Plus, a listener letter about BEFORE SUNRISE raises a question for discussion: Has any genre of movie benefitted from the addition of cell phones?

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE, ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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#373: Our Favorite Films of 2023 (So Far) May 02, 2023

The first few months of the year have a reputation — arguably an unfair one — as a dumping ground for films unlikely to draw blockbuster crowds or notice from awards-giving bodies. Here at The Next Picture Show, we don’t subscribe to the idea that no movies of value come out during these months, but we will acknowledge how rarely one of these films makes it onto our final Best of the Year lists. So before summer movie season commences and wipes our collective cultural consciousness of what preceded it, Scott and Keith got together for a special one-off episode focused on ten such films. Whether they end up being the best of the year, or just the best of the first third of the year, they’re worth a closer look.

Please share your picks on the year’s best so far, along with any other comments, thoughts, or questions, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

Next Pairing: Todd Solondz’s WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE and Kelly Fremon Craig’s ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET.

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#372: Shoe Me the Money, Pt. 2 — Air Apr 25, 2023

Like Cameron Crowe’s JERRY MAGUIRE, Ben Affleck’s new AIR takes place in the world of sports but is more concerned with matters off the playing field. In the case of AIR, those matters ultimately come down to a triumph of capitalism and marketing, leaving us all a little confused about the film’s rooting interests, but nonetheless entertained by its confident showmanship. But is that enough for the film to hold its own against JERRY MAGUIRE? We hash it out in Connections by tracing the two films’ character analogues and respective ideas about showing us the money.

Please share your comments, thoughts, and questions about JERRY MAGUIRE, AIR, or anything else in the world of film, by sending an email to comments@nextpictureshow.net, or leaving a short voicemail at (773) 234-9730.

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